One of our awesome readers, Jason, was doing some research and came across this seemingly innocuous business article by The Iona Group, a company that purports to have worked with the Gap, Williams Sonoma, and Sharper Image among other major companies.
Well guess what advice The Iona Group has for women?:
FOR WOMEN ONLY
1. I watch my hemlines, necklines, and see-through blouses. I leave the sex appeal and liberation manifesto... in the parking lot.
6. I watch my condescending "more liberated than thou" attitude.
7. I don't like, but can accept the hard reality, that a woman may need to prove herself beyond that of a man in a similar position.
Shit. My "sex appeal" is so large that it doesn't fit in my car. What do I do with that, um, "hard reality"? And while we're on the subject, my "liberation manifesto" is rather assuming and valuable. Won't it get stolen if I just leave it lying around?
Feel free to email Earl T. Benson, the Independent Director of Iona, with your questions and/or thoughts: iona@tiac.net.
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Can someone please post a link to where this "For Women Only" text actually comes from? And what is the "business article," exactly? Is it something they've published? Something they use when working with clients' employees? Or what?
http://www.theionagroup.com/documents/mngt%20development.pdf
You're awesome reader is my awesome husband. Who says men don't get it? Ha!
This appears to be advice for middle managers trying to get to executive level. The advice to men was much less condescending in tone and I may have something to say about that to the author. It also views women as receivers and men as aggressors, which I take issue with but is probably true in many companies.
In a less condescending tone: Don't dress unprofessionally, don't preach _any_ beliefs at work, don't speak down to other people for not seeming as feminist as you, and don't rock the boat too much with accusations of male-favoritism at high levels (it will get you nowhere at the near-executive level, everyone at that level is likely very qualified, and you will have no proof). It seems accurate, though I'm not to that level in my life.
To be fair, here are the men's items in the same document:
FOR MEN ONLY
1. I save the hugs and kisses for my wife or girlfriend.
2. I understand that the little jokes, innuendoes, gestures and the "just fooling around" are not appreciated by women these days – and are likely illegal.
3. I treat men and women workers the same way, and do not set a higher performance standard for women.
Uh, I still take umbrage with the part for women. "Little jokes" and "innuendos" don't cancel out the snarky "liberation manefesto." As if equal rights and sexual harassment are annoying little bumps to be glossed over. I mean really? We're still talking about necklines and hemlines?
The advice to women was filled with patronizing horribleness - he's not following his own #3 advice to men.
The advice is still valid though.
I don't think he mentioned ignoring or glossing over sexual harassment for the women. He did mention not harassing women in the men's section, however. This is his path to becoming an executive, not a path to becoming a wonderful person.
Also, #2 still blames the whole thing on women's sensitivity.
* of course, if you can prove something, by all means take legal action and show those f*ckers who's who.
I see a lot of comments about see-through blouses, and I have to wonder if it's referring to the sheer blouses meant to be worn over a tank top? I had a couple of interviews on a 95 degree day and wore one of those instead of a jacket, and scored a job no problem. I'm thinking about some options for professional school and reading about interviews for that, so I am seeing a lot of stuff about what to wear to work/interview.
My spouse is a law student, and said that he sat through a presentation about professional attire where a total of two "tips" were focused on men's attire in an hour-long presentation. The rest was about how not to be too sexy, ladies.
1. I will *never* leave my liberation manifesto in the parking lot. I keep it in my underwear.r. It goes with my see-through clothing.
2. I'm not condescending. I'm teaching.
3. No, I *don't* have to accept that a woman has to try harder. See number 3 for men. I can sue you for that. And I will!
Have a nice fucking day.
Don't waste your time, he's a semi-retired, finance guy trying to promote himself as a management consultant, quite a few steps below an I-Banker and not not nearly as impressive as he makes himself out to be (hey it's marketing what do you want to say? "As a former Sr. middle management at numerous mid-cap companies, I'm the guy who knows how to build your family business into a multi-million dollar empire")
Dime a dozen, a joke, a cube dweller who worked his way up into a side office.
Don't waste your time, he's a semi-retired, finance guy trying to promote himself as a management consultant, quite a few steps below an I-Banker and not not nearly as impressive as he makes himself out to be (hey it's marketing what do you want to say? "As a former Sr. middle management at numerous mid-cap companies, I'm the guy who knows how to build your family business into a multi-million dollar empire")
Dime a dozen, a joke, a cube dweller who worked his way up into a side office.
"Shit. My "sex appeal" is so large that it doesn't fit in my car."
awesome line :)
True, and what if you take the bus?! I think the image of a sort of cycle rack for women's "liberation manuals" outside a monolithic corporate office is quite poignant and saddening.
I don't see what's so terrible about this guy's advice. "Sexy" clothing are not appropriate in a workplace - because there's nothing businesslike about walking around with your cleavage exposed!
Maybe he didn't say it in a "politically correct" way - but his point is still valid.
But why leave a "liberation manifesto" in the parking lot? Why accept that women have to worker harder than men in the same position?
Notice how it's lumped into the whole "liberation manifesto" thing and "accepting different treatment" issue. That tells you a lot (slut-shaming all women who might get uppity, for example, even if most of us dress like our grandmothers!!)
To be fair, it's not just the sexism that's out of place here - the entire document is a very sad piece of work. The sheer neurotic banality reeks of American Psycho. "I have an on-going stream of thoughts" (p. 5), indeed...
Why is the advice to women numbered 1, 6 and 7?
Sent:
Dear Earl,
My liberation manifesto brings all the boys to yard.
Sincerely,
Cora D
Get the feeling this group is missing the point about fighting prejudice when they advise "keep it to yourself"?
How can Sex Appeal be too large? Watch out for the idiots, there's more of them out there than you think