On the campaigns that have cultivated and promoted their lower-level female staffers. Like Matt, I think Garance makes an incredibly important point about the reasons for Hillary Clinton's largely female senior staff:
After all, it’s not like there was some huge population of female strategists out there the various campaigns were competing for and Clinton just happened to snap them all up. Clinton created, on her own, a cadre of female strategists to serve her political needs, by spotting talent in the women around her and promoting them up the political food chain. No other candidate can say, for example, that their campaign is being managed by their female former scheduler.
This is one of the reasons I get so frustrated when I hear male editors say they're "really committed" to having more women writing and editing for their publication, while at the same time only cultivating lower-level male employees. I've heard older female editors say it took them years to realize that their male counterparts were being groomed by the older men in the office. It can be a very subtle, everyday kind of thing. So it's important to keep pointing out to people in positions of power (in business, in politics, in media, etc.) that the best way to achieve gender parity higher up the ladder is to develop the skills of women at the bottom and promote them -- not only to look for women to hire in at the top.
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Excellent reminders, Ann. Thanks.
I think that in the journalism field there is a deficency in female writers becuase of the lack of cultivation, but in the publishing field there are myriad female editors, and less male editors. I think that there needs to be an balance between both genders.
My boyfriend and I experience this, being in the same field - his mentor, an authority in our organization, letting him know about "secret" resources, etc. It's totally political and upsetting, esp. when I'm faced with both my gendered outrage and having to be happy for my guy.
About two years ago, I was invited to attend a private lunch with a very A-list male political blogger who had a book to flog. The room was filled with local campaign strategists, journalists, candidates and consultants.
I was one of TWO women in the room; I was the only person of color in the room. I can't remember what the A-list male political blogger said; all I can remember is how overwhelmingly white and male that room was. It was an afternoon that really opened up my eyes to the internal sexism within the progressive political crowd.