Photo from The Kitchen Cabinet 2012
I recently read an article on Forbes that made me want to punch my computer monitor. The article was written by Gene Marks, a Forbes contributor, and is entitled Why Most Women Will Never Become CEO. If the title didn’t get you all riled up, then reading Marks’s article likely will. Not only does he attempt to lay out all of the reasons why women will never make it to the top, but he goes on to suggest that he perpetuates the stereotypes in his own household, proving that he is the typical chauvinist and the very reason why women continue to face barriers in the workplace.
The article starts out by pointing to the fact that only twelve women hold the title of CEO of a Fortune 500 company, a number which has dropped since the previous year. Because I know that this fact is true, at least as of May of 2011, I assumed the rest of the article was going to be based on well researched facts and evidence tending to show why women don’t seem to be holding the coveted title of CEO as much as men do. Boy was I wrong!
First, Marks starts by giving an example of a car ride he shared with his teenage son and his friends as compared to a car ride he shared with his teenage daughter and her friends. His examples leave one with the impression that the cattiness of young teenage girls is what prevents most women from becoming the leader of a company. While I am of the opinion that women can be catty and dramatic a lot of the time, I have not found this to be true as much in the workplace as I have in “real” life. The fact that Marks is suggesting that women fail to rise to the ranks of CEO because they are too catty is a little ridiculous.
Second, Marks goes on to discuss that while things have progressed from the days of Mad Men where men patted their secretaries on the “backside” and called them “honey,” men still focus too much on a woman’s appearance. Specifically, Marks suggests that only those women that are attractive will be able to rise to the top within an organization, while those women with less sex appeal will be ignored by their male counterparts. While Marks states that men are still trying to take women serious in the workplace, he argues that taking women seriously has not “progressed beyond the maturity level of my teenage son and his friends.” Marks talks about the way men gawk at attractive women when they leave a room, making me wonder why such sexually focused men come to hold higher level positions than level-headed and motivated women. Not only does his comment reflect negatively upon men who can think beyond a woman’s sex appeal, but it sends a message to women that dressing or looking a certain way will push them farther up the career ladder, which is just plain false. While I do understand that sometimes more attractive people (both men and women) have it easier with regard to first impressions, I don’t think that the way a woman looks or dresses makes or breaks her career. Sure, a woman who dresses sloppy and never showers is going to have problems getting a job, but to say that two equally dressed and qualified women will be distinguished based on their sex appeal is plain false.
Third, Marks argues that the personal and social pressures placed on women make it harder for a woman to obtain a CEO position. While I tend to agree that the pressure to be a good mother, a good wife, and to be involved in their community certainly prevents some women from taking on large leadership roles within their organization, Marks’s discussion just makes him sound stupid. Not only does he admit that he didn’t help his wife when his baby cried in the middle of the night, he admits that beer and attractive women are just about the only thing on a man’s mind – not their children, not helping their wives, and certainly not the helpful, smart women they work with. Nope, beer and boobs is all Marks cares about (and according to Marks, all other men care about).
Fourth, Marks argues that all societal pressures aside, women are held to a higher standard, which in turn prevents them from connecting with their fellow co-workers. According to Marks, men can “get away with more stupidity.” Specifically, Marks argues that it is ok for men to make an inappropriate joke at work or in front of their boss, but a woman who does the same is frowned upon. Marks says that it is ok for a man to curse when telling a story, but if a woman does the same thing she is considered a bitch. Additionally, men can date women thirty years younger, but a woman wouldn’t even dare think about doing such a thing because “they can’t.” Sure, a woman who has the mouth of a sailor may not be taken as seriously as a man who does the same, but to say that a man will not get judged at all for telling an inappropriate joke and a woman will is not accurate. Has Marks ever heard of sexual harassment lawsuits?
While I could go on and on about the things Marks says in the article, I am getting queasy just thinking about it. I do agree with Marks that it would be hard to juggle being the CEO of a company while taking care of your sick child, but I don’t think that these are burdens shared just by the women as they were many years ago. In fact, I believe that there are many more men stepping up at home and with the children because a lot more women are working. My husband helps me clean the house, he pays the bills on time, and when we have children you can bet your bottom dollar that he will be partaking in the midnight feeding sessions. That is just the type of person he is. He doesn’t look at me and just assume I am going to cook all his meals, pack his lunch, do his laundry, and be barefoot and pregnant. He looks at me as an equal, which apparently Marks has a hard time doing.
All in all this article taught me that there are still disgusting, sex-focused men out there that think women are not as capable as they are. I think it is sad that there are still men like Marks in the workplace that only see a woman as a sex object. I feel sorry for his poor wife that has to work full-time and do everything around the house. To all those men out there, please don’t take any notes from Marks’s article!
Mrs. Professionalism 