The Switch From Witch

It’s always particularly vexing to see a publication directed at women promoting the worst kind of female stereotypes.  This week ForbesWoman, an offshoot of Forbes Magazine, included an article titled “The Office Mom” asserting that women were “making the switch from witch” in the office, and are now more likely to exhibit a softer, more maternal management style.

Let’s start with the basics.  Despite a lot of hoopla over the idea of the Queen Bee boss, there’s little evidence that what the article refers to as “tyrannical bosses…best embodied in The Devil Wears Prada” are any more likely to be female than male.  There have always been women and men who feel the need to assert their power in inappropriate ways in the workplace, and this should not be tolerated regardless of gender.

But let’s dig a little deeper.  In The Devil Wears Prada and similar films, the alpha-woman is vilified for insisting on perfection, asking her assistant to handle personal tasks like dry cleaning, and insensitivity to her employee’s leisure time.  These are things that male bosses have done for hundreds of years, and still do every day, with absolutely no flack.  In fact, at a certain level they are all perfectly reasonable expectations for a top executive to have of her assistant.

The ForbesWoman article sets up another stereotype, “the office mom,” as a counterpoint to the Queen Bee.  The office mom bakes for her employees and listens to their personal problems.  She is emotionally connected with them.  She offers support when they are in distress and doesn’t yell.

I’m not sure that being involved with employees’ personal lives is an emblem of great leadership.  I also suspect that the idea that men typically allow distressed employees to suffer, while women offer them vast support, is untrue.  Corporate environments generally are unfriendly to individuals — they exist to support the goal of the company.  Sometimes corporate goals align with personal needs, but sometimes they don’t.  That’s not because there are too many “Queen Bees” in the workplace.

Ultimately this article is part of the larger effort to rebrand women as better positioned to lead by virtue of their femininity.  The qualities that were once considered liabilities are now being co-opted as assets in books like Motherhood is the New MBA and Womenomics, and articles like the recent New York Times piece “Do Women Make Better Managers?”

But this well-intentioned propaganda can just as easily turn on us.  Not everyone is looking for a kinder, gentler workplace.  Most companies are looking for the most qualified people who can support their business goals and drive revenue.  Sometimes this means boosting morale and improving benefits, but more often it means finding efficiencies, eliminating waste and taking companies in visionary strategic directions.  Arguably, these don’t have much to do with bringing cupcakes for your employees or listening to their personal problems.

Rather than defining ourselves by notions of womanhood that are older than the hills, we need to focus on gaining the skills and practical work experience that will truly give us a leg up in the corporate world.  That means overcoming political and social hurdles like the very real motherhood penalty, the lack of family benefits and the crisis in education.  Addressing those challenges will drive equality in the corporate world, not vague notions of womanly virtues.

Related links:

• Another perspective on the ForbesWoman piece from Shannon Kelley at The Undecided.
• A great piece from John Powers at NPR on Hollywood’s Strong, Self-Hating Women.
• From The Mama Bee archives: Why We Should Stop Asking if Women Make Better Managers and The Maternal Manager.
• A study reported by The Daily Mail suggests alpha females earn more than other women.  The headline should have been that women’s personality traits affect their earnings, but men’s do not.