10 Tropes About Women That Women Should Stop Laughing About - Global - The Atlantic Wire

In the vein of our 9 articles “for women” that journalists should stop writing, here are 10 stereotypes about women that we should be very careful about passing off as meaningless jokes. Because whether you’re a woman or a man, the “right” way to behave is to make good decisions for yourself that aren’t based in someone else’s perceived stereotype about you, or in the countering fear of being branded as such a type. There are so many stereotypes, ranging from the overly emotional “hysterical” woman (who may or may not have PMS) to the coldly vicious, calculating “anti-woman” to the tomboy to the superficial, shallow girly-girl. None are flattering; none are hilarious; most are couched in relationships, or lack thereof, with men. The following are just a few.

Take some time to watch/listen to Sheryl Sandberg's address to graduates at Harvard Business School earlier this month.

via changetheratio:

“We need to start talking about how women underestimate their abilities compared to men and — for women, but not men, success and likeability are negatively correlated. That means that as a woman is more successful in your workplaces, she will be less liked. This means that women need a different form of management and mentorship, a different form of sponsorship and encouragement, and some protection, in some ways more than men.

There aren’t enough senior women out there to do it, so it falls upon the men who are graduating today just as much or more as the women, not just to talk about gender but to help these women succeed. When they hear a woman is really great at her job but not liked, take a deep breath and ask why.”

Full transcript at Poets & Quants. 

good: Recently, a female GOOD staffer was commiserating with a male journalist about the dearth of female bylines in major American magazines. She suggested a solution: He should speak to the editors of these magazines—people he knows personally—about how awesome she is. She was on the phone with a highly regarded editor within a week, discussing the possibilities for freelance work. Reading big statistics, it’s easy to place yourself in a bystander role. You acknowledge that women are underrepresented in your industry—particularly if you work in media, design, or tech. You know that they are far less visible, and probably paid less, than men of equal experience. You’re frustrated at how difficult it sometimes seems to fill your workplace or panel discussion with enough women. But what have you ever done about it?  PROMOTE WOMEN. It’s time to stop lamenting and start doing. Here’s how: 1   Think of three women in your industry who are underpaid, underemployed, or under-noticed. Women who are rising through the ranks more slowly than their male peers. Women who are really great at what they do but haven’t been recognized as up-and-comers yet. 2   Think of three powerful people (of any gender) in your industry who you know personally and who are in a position to hire or assign to women. 3   Compose an email to each of those powerful people individually and recommend a specific woman they should meet, hire, or otherwise work with. 4   Email those women and tell them you’ve recommended them. We haven’t provided a form email by design—a genuine, original email is what counts. Put your email where your mouth is. Use your network. Endorse women today. Then boost the signal. Women, share your stories about infiltrating male professional networks. Facilitators, submit your own accounts of giving women a leg up. Submit your stories here on GOOD’s Tumblr, on Twitter with the #promotewomen hashtag, or in the comments on our site. We’ll compile your stories and publish them as inspiration. We have the power to end the gender gap. Take five minutes and send three emails to do something about it.
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good:

Recently, a female GOOD staffer was commiserating with a male journalist about the dearth of female bylines in major American magazines. She suggested a solution: He should speak to the editors of these magazines—people he knows personally—about how awesome she is. She was on the phone with a highly regarded editor within a week, discussing the possibilities for freelance work.

Reading big statistics, it’s easy to place yourself in a bystander role. You acknowledge that women are underrepresented in your industry—particularly if you work in media, design, or tech. You know that they are far less visible, and probably paid less, than men of equal experience. You’re frustrated at how difficult it sometimes seems to fill your workplace or panel discussion with enough women. But what have you ever done about it? 

PROMOTE WOMEN. It’s time to stop lamenting and start doing. Here’s how:

1   Think of three women in your industry who are underpaid, underemployed, or under-noticed. Women who are rising through the ranks more slowly than their male peers. Women who are really great at what they do but haven’t been recognized as up-and-comers yet.

2   Think of three powerful people (of any gender) in your industry who you know personally and who are in a position to hire or assign to women.

3   Compose an email to each of those powerful people individually and recommend a specific woman they should meet, hire, or otherwise work with.

4   Email those women and tell them you’ve recommended them. We haven’t provided a form email by design—a genuine, original email is what counts.

Put your email where your mouth is. Use your network. Endorse women today. Then boost the signal. Women, share your stories about infiltrating male professional networks. Facilitators, submit your own accounts of giving women a leg up. Submit your stories here on GOOD’s Tumblr, on Twitter with the #promotewomen hashtag, or in the comments on our site. We’ll compile your stories and publish them as inspiration.

We have the power to end the gender gap. Take five minutes and send three emails to do something about it.

Women are never what they seem to be. There is the woman you see and there is the woman who is hidden. Buy the gift for the woman who is hidden.

Erma Bombeck (via my QotD calendar).

P.S. If you like Quote of the Day calendars (as I do, obvs), this one is the one I love. “Believing in Ourselves” is a cheesy title for a calendar, but the quotes tend to be worth reflection.  There’s rarely a bad one in the bunch.

fastcompany: The response to Fast Company’s recent feature story, “The Case for Girls,” has been incredible. First, digital agency AKQA’s mock ad campaign became a real-life call to action and a mobilizing worldwide event. Now social media agency Lovesocial has announced a partnership with indie doc Miss Representation and reached out to Fast Company to create an infographic to illustrate the stats featured in our story.
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fastcompany:

The response to Fast Company’s recent feature story, “The Case for Girls,” has been incredible. First, digital agency AKQA’s mock ad campaign became a real-life call to action and a mobilizing worldwide event. Now social media agency Lovesocial has announced a partnership with indie doc Miss Representation and reached out to Fast Company to create an infographic to illustrate the stats featured in our story.

(via publicradiointernational)

Source: Fast Company

A third marketing insider put the film’s lack of success with connecting to its female fans this way: “I am surprised by those female [tracking] numbers, but I am not surprised that women don’t want to see an ultra-violent David Fincher movie about women being tortured and raped. I think women see these trailers and are being scared shitless away from it.
Why Aren’t More Women Who Loved the Dragon Tattoo Book Planning to See the Movie? — Vulture. My feelings exactly.  I watched the Swedish film trilogy on Netflix Instant, but I was able to fast forward through the violent scenes.  Reading them was difficult enough — I don’t need to see them on the big screen.

Source: New York Magazine