Sallie Krawcheck writes no matter what women do, if they play the game by men’s rules, they won’t win. “Women tend to get penalized no matter how they act on their way to the top. Those who get there are often set up for failure, tapped to lead only in moments of crisis, when the odds of succeeding are slim to none, a phenomenon known as the glass cliff.” (“The Impossible Climb,” by Sallie Krawcheck, Bloomberg Businessweek, Jan 29-2017 pg. 59.)
Despite equal opportunity laws meant to level the playing field, Krawcheck reports the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 13,000 harassment complaints in 2015, about the same for every years since 2011. (Ibid pg. 59.) Not much improvement there nor in the fact that women occupy 19% of high executive offices, called C-suites and so named because titles begin with “C” like Chief Executive officer and Chief Operating Officer. (Click)
Krawcheck’s conclusion is that women should stop trying to become members of the boys club and create a club of their own. She doesn’t say how to do that and the number of women occupying C-suites doesn’t seem large enough to initiate change. Still the author has a point. History is largely written by men, which means women’s contributions are neglected. Mary Shelly knew this and hid her gender while her husband, Percy, penned the preface to Frankenstein. The Brontë sisters used pen names to get their novels, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, into print
Taylor Swift courtesy of google.com
In modern times, men continue to cast their shadows over a woman’s light. Rosalind Franklin’s X-ray studies provided the key that unlocked the DNA code. Yet James Watson and Francis Crick won the Nobel Prize after stealing into her office and reading her research. (Click) Not until Hollywood’s film, Hidden Figures, did Katherine Johnson’s contribution to NASSA’s space program and that of her female, African American colleagues gain wide recognition. In 2016, swimmer Katrina Hosszú created a world record at the Rio Olympics. In her moment of triumph, the camera turned on her husband as the male announcer cheered, “…there’s the man responsible.”
And who could forget Kayne West’s behavior at the 2009 Music Video awards? When Taylor Swift received top honors, he jumped on the stage to protest. To this day, he defends his action. “I made that bitch famous. (God Dam) I made that bitch famous.” (“I Made the Bitch Famous,” by Madison Pauly, Mother Jones, March/April, 2017 pg. 56.)
I rest my case.
