The Downtown Women's Club blog

International Women's Day roundup

We went into International Women's Day with a "bang" here in the US when Kathryn Bigelow became the first female to win a Oscar for directing.  This is a step in the right direction.  Awards shows and Hollywood achievements like this should not be underplayed because (1) movies are big business; and (2) the entertainment industry is one of the few industries that the US has yet to outsource (other than a few filming locations).  Here are some slightly depressing stats about women's roles in Hollywood from Ms. Magazine.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, women are only 7 percent of top-grossing directors, 8 percent of writers, 17 percent of executive producers, 23 percent of producers, 18 percent of editors and 2 percent of cinematographers in Hollywood.

Click here to read full article.

While Bigelow was making strides, the stats above aren't much different from the percentage of females in higher political office or in executive roles in Fortune 500 companies. This is one of the main reasons that according to an article in today's NYTimes, the US did not even crack the top 10 best countries for women in four global studies.  All the studies were based on different factors, and the US was at best 13th and at worst 65th.

Despite these differences, a clear pattern emerges. Scandinavian countries that have made gender equality an explicit goal and implemented policies such as universal child care and paid family leaves almost always land on the top of the list.  The United States lags far behind.

Efforts to look more specifically at developing countries show that several countries in Latin America, like Paraguay, stand out in terms of their efforts to reform family law and promote agrarian reforms that give women access to land ownership. On the other hand, many countries in Africa and the Middle East enforce laws that explicitly restrict women’s rights.

Click here to read full article.

For more about International Women's Day visit http://www.internationalwomensday.com. 

*Photo by mirror.co.uk.

World Leaders: Are You Hot or Not?

I'm sure ranking heads of state by their "hotness" factor is so wrong on so many levels, esp. when one includes the Pope, but I couldn't let the  Hottest Heads of State website go by without comment.  Not only was this fun family fodder for the holidays, but it mocks (in a good way) some of what I've been on my soapbox about for the past few months - the lack of women leaders, why women need to be in politics, and how the media needs to stop focusing on the looks/clothing attire of high-profile women business and political leaders.  More on that below.

Basically the Hottest Heads of State site was the brainchild of three people who only identify themselves as J.D., Kate and Derek and who don't claim to have been anything other than subjective, totally random and irreverent and to have completely made things up.  Nevertheless, the site provoked a lot of interest in our household and here are just some of the thoughts.

First the stuff you want to know:

The Top 5:  

• Yulia Tymoshenko Prime Minister of Ukraine
• Jens Stoltenberg Prime Minister of Norway (Pictured above - Wow ... I'd vote for him to play the next James Bond!).
• Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck King of Bhutan
• Joseph Kabila President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Cristina Fernández de Kirchner President of Argentina

Women make up 2 of the top 5.  Unfortunately there are only 11 women on the list of 172, once again a woeful stat (6%) and indicative of the world gender gap, a number that's sadly double the percentage of women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. As for the hotness factor, considering the lowest ranked woman was Angela Merke, the Chancellor of Germany at #109, it seems that women leaders on the whole are hotter than their male counterparts.

President Obama came in 15th. At least that's higher than our ranking of 37 in the world for healthcare systems - which, hopefully now we'll be moving up in that ranking soon. And, if Obama poses shirtless again on this latest Hawaii trip, maybe next year he'll move up in the hottie rankings.

My parents noted a bit of ageism going on in the rankings as they opined that some of the heads of state were "total hotties" when they were younger.

My son's question, based on Kim Jong-il being ranked #172 out of 172: "Does being evil make you ugly?"  My answer was "definitely on the inside," but then we did a cross check with Parade's worst dictators - and saw a bit of a correlation - so now we have the question: Does being evil make you less hot, or does being less hot make you evil?

But, as for rating the Pope 171 out of 172, I loved one of the author's disclaimers.

Finally, after a week where I've been wondering whether the media is making things culturally bad for women because they always include irrelevant descriptions of their attire/what they wear, I like that this is an equal opportunity list -- where the 161 male leaders were being judged solely on their looks.   Perhaps I've been going about this all wrong.  Rather than encouraging the media to stop talking about the appearance of female leaders, we should encourage them to talk more the looks/attire of the men!  Maybe that's what it would take before we can get back to focusing on the issues.

US slipping in gender gap

Forbes.com gives us an overview of the latest global report on the gender gap. :

The World Economic Forum released its annual Global Gender Gap Index Tuesday, a comprehensive ranking of gender gaps across the world. As in past years, the Nordic countries came out on top, but the U.S. and UK slipped down the list.

...

The U.S. fell to No. 31, down from last year's No. 27 ranking and even farther from 2006's placement at No. 23. The U.S. has always done well on measures of education and economic participation, but has been held back by mediocre scores in women's health and political achievement. The U.S. gap in political empowerment is below the world's average, having closed only 14% of its gap. This year, small changes in economic opportunity--female labor force participation and wage equality fell slightly--pushed the U.S. down the list.

Click here for the full story.

Click here for the report.

Nominate an Idea that Will Change the World!

American Express announced recently the Second Competition to Develop Innovative Program Ideas.   "This year, American Express will fund five winning projects; the top project will receive $1.5 million, the second place project will receive $500,000, the third place project will receive $300,000 and two additional projects in the Top Five will receive $100,000 in funding."

"From July 22 through August 19, Cardmembers will be able to submit their own ideas for projects to make a positive impact in the world and discuss, nominate and decide upon their favorite projects. Whether a Cardmember or not, everyone is invited to participate by commenting on and nominating their favorite projects online. Cardmembers can select one of the following categories that best fits their project submission: Arts & Culture, Community Development, Education, Environment & Wildlife and Health. Cardmembers can use photos, audio and video to enhance project submissions on the site and anyone can go online and share feedback and insights about specific projects for project submitters to consider. "

An advisory panel of luminary social innovators and philanthropists will cull through the nominations and select the Top 25 who will be announced on September 9.  From that time on only members will be allowed to vote. Starting September 30 members vote to determine the Top 5 with the winner announced on October 14.

"In 2007, after 8,000 project submissions and three rounds of voting, thousands of American Express Cardmembers from across the country chose "Children's Safe Drinking Water" as the winning project, and American Express provided $2 million in funding to UNICEF to bring the project to life."

Do you know of an innovative project?  Do you work with an innovative nonprofit?  Do you have an idea that could change the world?  Be bold...nominate yourself, an idea and/or an organization!

Let us know who you nominate so we can cast a supporting vote. Remember we have until August 19 to make a nomination.

What's in a compliment?

Here's a WSJ video featuring my co-author, Lindsey Pollak, talking about the cultural differences of compliments.  Click here to read the accompanying story.  So, what do you think, do Americans compliment to much -- thereby instilling false confidence; or do other cultures compliment too little -- making them less likely to be confident enough to take risks?

My take is that like all things, moderation is key; and, as pointed out in the article and video this is a fairly new phenomena mostly affecting Gen Y.  I certainly didn't grow up getting a trophy just for signing up for a sports team.  I also spent most of my work life in organizations where the mantra was "Why would I compliment you for doing what we pay you for?  Besides, if I give you praise for every little thing, you might not be motivated to work harder."  Admittedly, some of those places weren't the healthiest of environments.

Yet, one just has to watch the auditions for American Idol to see some disastrous results of false praise on our younger generations.  "But my parents told me I'm the best!" says one off-tune crooner after another as they curse at Simon and the cameras.  Ah well. That's probably because no one ever gave their parents a compliment.   

Yummy Mummies not just an Anglo phenomenon

Says Judith Warner in her NYTime Blog (sections here reprinted courtesy of the "Behind the Times" blog: 

A Yummy Mummy, in case you’re not familiar with the phrase, is the term used in Britain for moms (mums) who are soignée. Trim and fashionable, well-turned-out and groomed, equipped with the latest must-have bags and shoes, widely smiling, insouciant, skilled in home decoration, furniture restoration, competitive skiing, dressage, and …

Her posting goes on to say how she went back to France and found that they, too, were caught up in competitive parenting, and working women were over-extended and struggling to parent on a level that seems exclusive to well-to-do, stay-at-home a/k/a yummy mummies.

I really think it's time we all decided to bag the "yummy mummy" ideals, and acknowledge that the true parenting norm is more along the "slummy mummy" lines (to use the name of one of Britain's most popular chick lit novels, which I'm waiting for my chance to read!)

Women don't prosper in sushi economy

Think American corporations are unfair to women?  Check out this NY Times article about Japanese careerwomen making up only 10% of managerial positions (compared to US where women make up 42%).  If I didn't like sushi so much, that just might be depressing enough to make me want to boycott all things Japanese.  Thanks to Entrepreneur Business Blog for spotlighting this!

Ethnic women ignored by UK employers

A new report by the Equal Opportunities Commission in the UK finds that employers are ignoring black and Asian women.  Click here for the full BBC story.

The problems uncovered by the research did not just apply to recruitment.

They also affected promotion, which saw some ethnic minority women segregated into certain types of work for which they were often overqualified.

The report found that 28% of employers in the survey wanted to improve their recruitment methods, while the same number admitted they did not know how to go about this.

Osbournes and Underwear and Queens, Oh My!

Label this one meeting held by a British Royal that I'd actually want to attend.  Metro.UK.com announced that the Queen is hosting a get-together for the country's most successful businesswomen including Sharon Osbourne and the head of erotic underwear chain Ann Summers. 

Blimey, nothing like some tea and biscuits and a chat about bloomers with that gang.

Need a driver? Call a woman

Thanks to Kirsten Osolind over at the Reinvention Blog for highlighting this story about how women really are better drivers.

That age-old stereotype about dangerous women drivers is shattered in a big new traffic analysis: Male drivers have a 77 percent higher risk of dying in a car accident than women, based on miles driven.  ...

The study holds plenty of surprises.

• The highway death rate is higher for cautious 82-year-old women than for risk-taking 16-year-old boys.
• New England is the safest region for drivers — despite all those stories about crazy Boston drivers.
• The safest passenger is a youngster strapped in a car seat and being driven during morning rush hour.

And, I loved this story from Russia about "Pink Taxi's".  Women can now call a female cab driver to get them home safe late at night.