Recruiting Animal

Women Should Flaunt It at Work

From: Women Should Flaunt It at Work by Jessica Bennett

Hakim defines erotic capital as more than just sex: a combination of beauty, style, social skills and charm that can be learned (or, shall we say, bought).

If that means spending a fortune on brand-name clothes, so be it—because erotic capital is as important in today’s workplace, she says, as intelligence or skill.

Dieting and exercise? That should be a given, because nobody wants to hire the overweight.

Tanning, hair dye—even cosmetic surgery. Those are all necessary evils if you’re really driven to make it to the top, says Hakim.

Perfume and high heels also have been known to do the trick.

“Anyone, even quite an ugly person, can be attractive if they just have the right kind of hairstyle, clothes, and present themselves to the best effect,”...

“This isn't a frivolous spending of money. It has real benefits.” As a famous cosmetics creator once put it: “There are no ugly women, only lazy ones.”

Men have erotic capital too, she says—but women’s sex appeal has always been more prominent.

She faults traditional feminists for dismissing its importance: the one aspect of life, she writes, where women undoubtedly have an advantage over men.

 

Blogging is a guy thang

From: Why are bloggers male? - Margaret Wente, Globe and Mail, March 17, 2010 (edited)

Guys want lots of action and instant gratification. That's why guys like blogging – instant opinions, and lots of them.

Men clearly have an urge to blog that women lack. Not many women are interested enough in spitting out an opinion on current events every 20 minutes.

“Do you think men are more opinionated than women are?” I asked my friend Sarah. “No,” she said. “They just don't feel the need to think before they open their mouths.”

The urge to blog is closely related to the sex-linked compulsion known as male answer syndrome. MAS is the reason why guys shoot up their hands first in math class. MAS also explains why men are so quick to have opinions on subjects they know little or nothing about.

Do you ever wonder why the talk shows and opinion pages are still dominated by male voices? That's why.

Opinionizing in public is a form of mental jousting, where the aim is to out-reason, out-argue or out-yell your opponent. Women are just as good at this but are not as interested in doing it.

From: Female bloggers take on Margaret Wente, Globe and Mail, Thurs Mar. 18, 2010

Annie Urban: "I certainly don't think women are lacking in opinions or in a willingness to share them. I have been opinionated all of my life and have been sharing that opinion with the world on my blog for two years."

Tamara Plant blasted Ms. Wente's assertion that women are too demure to blog: "Nine times out of 10 I don't think before I talk. It's called having an attitude and I'm OK with it."

 

Body Chemistry and Personality

From: Why are bloggers male? - Margaret Wente, Globe and Mail, March 17, 2010

For most of my adult life, I was almost struck dumb in the presence of strangers. I managed to complete five years of university without raising my hand, and the idea of a dinner party used to make me faint.

Several of my female friends tell similar stories. No matter how brilliant they were, they lacked the confidence to express themselves in public.

Fortunately, something happens to women in midlife that disinhibits them. It is the same thing (in reverse) that turns bold, extroverted little girls into painfully self-conscious adolescents: a drastic change in hormones.

These days, I no longer care when someone calls me an idiot, and my husband often has to drag me home from dinner parties.

 

Working With Women

From: Margaret Wente, Just bar men from politics, Globe and Mail, Thursday, Jun. 09, 2011
Comment: R Rowat June 9, 2011

I have had the experience of working in two or three environments in which the vast majority of employees were women, including management. In each case, the atmosphere became poisonous with the all the behind-the-back whispering, back-stabbing and general character assassination. The workplace was dysfunctional and remained so until the gender balance was righted.

Doesn't Privacy Require Secrecy?

I would never tell my children (or anyone) to keep a secret. Secrets are not safe and healthy.

I, like many parents, have taught my children that some things are private matters, and when you share them, do so honestly with sensitivity and consideration.

If I had to convince my children not to share Storm's sex (which I don't because my children simply are not interested at this point) — I would teach them that someone else's genitals and sense of how they relate to their gender is their private business, to be shared by them or in a context where safety and acceptance are paramount.

Kathy Witterick, Toronto Star, May 28, 2011

Gender Articles

Strong Women, Weak Men
Work vs Family
Creativity & Domesticity
Girls Study Harder

Old World Sexists

Taliban Kills Lady Cop

These Afghan "militants" really drive home the meaning of sexism and the wonders of traditional society.

In Afghanistan, where women are commonly subjected to abuse by husbands, fathers and husbands, Kakar was a cultural trailblazer, holding men to account and pressing charges.

Females fleeing cruelty frequently took refuge in the women's wardroom at the Kandahar police station and Kakar – along with her squad of 10 lady officers – protected them. "Our constitution is supposed to protect women's rights too," she argued.

-- Rosie DeManno, The Toronto Star.

Women Aren't Demanding

Women are so naive. They think the world is fair so you're just going to give them what they deserve. They don't have to fight for it.

"men learn as boys that they can go out and change the world," and are thus more likely to change situations to their liking.

Gee, I don't remember learning that? Did I absorb it by seeing male heroes in action movies? Or is it possible that this is baloney?

Men expect big salaries. Women don't.
Men initiate negotiations four times more than women.
Women don't like to negotiate. It's too much like fighting so they give in.

Reference: Lisa Summers, Toronto Star

Ten Worst Countries For Women

Afghanistan. Congo. Iraq. Nepal. Sudan. Guatemala. Mali. Tribal border areas of Pakistan. Saudi Arabia. Somalia.

Details in The Toronto Star

Race and Gender

Stereotyping and prejudice

One hundred milliseconds after we see someone, we have made a determination about their race; 50 milliseconds later, we have determined their gender.

Stereotyping is ascribing a set of traits to an individual based on his membership in a specific group. Prejudice is disliking someone because of her group identity.

Most whites are quicker to associate positive words with images of whites, and negative words with blacks. However, this bias can be reduced or erased because racial stereotyping and prejudice depend on the context in which someone appears.

When people are shown images of well-liked black public figures, for instance, bias disappears because the context tells people that the person is not someone they need to worry about.

So, you can get people to stop thinking in terms of race by identifying a black person with membership in another group which then becomes the context and focus of attention. But you can't do the same with gender because assertive, commanding, leadership qualities are deemed offensive in a woman no matter what the context.

The only other trait that we notice as strongly as gender is age.

Source: Drake Bennett, Boston Globe