Earlier today an article came across my twitter feed from ForbesWoman titled “Worst Words to Say at Work: These nine words and phrases will make you sound noncommittal, undependable and untrustworthy“. The article didn’t specifically mention women anywhere, so I’m trying to figure out why this piece was part of ForbesWoman rather than the regular Forbes website. Are women more likely to use inappropriate language in the workplace? Are female managers more likely to have demotivated employees who use these words? Is it as simple as the fact that the writer is a woman, therefore her work belongs in the ForbesWoman online ghetto?
I’m struggling with this because anyway you slice it, the implications point to an insidious kind of sexism in business and management reporting. A traditional business magazine would never have an article with as silly and simplistic a premise as this one. And yet the women’s version of Forbes is perfectly comfortable promoting this piece as real management advice. Do women really need to be told that using words like “whatever” at the office isn’t a good idea?
Most of the phrases ForbesWoman cites are only negative when put in the context of poor performance. Leaving “whatever” aside, I don’t think it’s wrong to indicate that results can only be achieved “if” certain investments are made. Sometimes employees are better off saying “I don’t know” than giving a half-cocked answer. And saying “I’ll get back to you” is only a negative if you don’t get back to the person. Presumably a good employee follows up. Not only does this article insult women by implying that don’t have the simplest understanding of appropriate workplace language, it gives some bad advice to boot.
It’s a larger problem. Stories revolving in the top spot on Forbes.com today include one about risky financial firms, another on special interests in Washington, and a third on the jobs crisis in a number of cities. Four of the five are reported by men. By contrast, ForbesWoman‘s top stories are on fashion, divorce, and how women use social networking to make connections. All are reported by women. You get the picture: men need news and business info, women need fashion and dating tips.
And it’s not just Forbes. Top stories on Slate.com include a piece on the Goldman Sachs suit, one on the environment and a third about how and why YouTube censors videos on its site. Double X — the women’s Slate — features pieces on Sandra Bullock, Molly Ringwald and posting “toddler-tainment” videos on YouTube. Of the roughly 100 authors listed on the Harvard Business Review website, I count just 17 women. Both Newsweek and NPR have openly admitted that women’s voices are underrepresented in their reporting. Search the #management or #business hashtags on Twitter and you find the high-quality tweets overwhelmingly posted by men.
What’s going on? Are women truly less qualified to be serious journalists or are they being channeled into “women’s” reporting? And how come sites that cater to professional women focus more on “lifestyle” journalism than news, business or management? And what makes a management or business issue more relevant to women than men, anyway?
Social media guru Clay Shirky suggests that women are less promotional of their accomplishments and skills than men, and this hurts them in industries like journalism that require a certain amount of tooting your own horn to get ahead. As much as I think Shirky has a point, in the case of business reporting, I think there are greater forces at work. The male voice still carries more weight in the business community, and while articles written by men appeal to both genders, there is a sense that articles written by women appeal primarily to women.
But it’s a chicken and egg problem. If women are only given puff pieces to report, they neither get the experience, exposure or connections that would allow them to succeed as hardcore financial or business reporters. And because women don’t have the experience, exposure and connections they aren’t given the plum assignments. Instead, they end up in ForbesWoman.
Related links:
- The Women’s Media Center is working to make women visible and powerful in the media. A great resource.
- The (Feminist) Business Blogger’s Lament from CV Harquail’s Authentic Organizations – important.
- Leanne Chase says that she is unsubscribing to ForbesWoman in her post on Gender Bias in the Workplace.
- I like The Glass Hammer and 85 Broads for serious reporting/insights on women in business and management.
Interesting point – I actually like Forbes Woman – although more the Forbes blog, Work in Progress than the articles… I agree though, when contrasted with the more serious tone of the site, a piece on the difficulty of being single at work, while relevant to many people’s professional lives, is definitely on the lighter end of the news spectrum.
I’m also a Glass Hammer fan, and I like to check out the Catalyst Organization’s blog when it’s updated (weekly I think)
Mama Bee, you rock! Thanks for bringing this issue to the forefront
I think you have to look at the whole idea of having business publications and sites dedicated to women readers. Acceptance of these forces buy-in to the notion that women have different interests.
It is very competitive to get articles published most places. The easiest way to get an editor to say “yes” is to show that you have some expertise in the topic. And so it is much easier for women to get articles accepted on women’s topics (whatever that means) because you don’t have to justify it or prove your expertise. With other topics, sometimes you do, and as you say, women have a tougher time tooting our own horns, or viewing ourselves as experts on things that we actually don’t know cold. Men seem to be less afflicted with this problem.
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