Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Culture, Equality, Men, Sexism, Women
Remember a few weeks ago I wrote about the lack of female CSO’s … at least in comparison to male … and the need to fight against it by over-compensating for it?
Well, while my point of view was generally well received, I did cop some flack for it – unsurprisingly from men – and yet when you see the shit kids get exposed to from a young age, I wonder how they can feel the current situation is alright?
More so, I wonder how they can feel it’s fine if they’re parents to women?
Above are 2 pictures from an airline ‘duty free’ magazine.
Boys get to dream of being pilots.
Women get to dream of being air hostesses.
How many parents want their kids aspirations to be limited by their gender?
Of course there’s nothing wrong with being a member of the cabin crew – but that is about personal interests not gender limitations – and the only way this situation will change is if we remove the barriers and limitations placed on over 50% of the population and make space and opportunity for them to fulfill their potential.
Not – as I said in my original post – because it will make the world ‘fairer’ or even more ‘equal’ [though they both good reasons to do it], but because by enabling the potential of women, we all will experience the benefits of the way they see the World … a way that is often built on being better for everyone rather than just themselves.
Which, let’s be honest, is the definition of true leadership.
But there’s another reason for doing this.
It will make men better.
There is a lot to be said for being challenged by someone who expresses their talent in different ways to you.
Years ago – 2006, to be precise – I wrote about how the creative tension in the band The Who, pushed them to demand more from the music they were creating – as well as the people they were creating it with. Some of this was because of their occasional hatred for eachother, specifically Townsend and Entwistle, and some of it was because the band was so talented they would take someones musical ideas to ‘places’ they never imagined and they didn’t want to get left behind.
In other words, the tension pushed them higher … and given for so long women have had to play the support act to men – not just in companies but, as the pictures above show, in kids fashion – I believe it would be far more than just women winning if companies made more space for them to be the headline act.
Protector.
Defender.
Leader.
Enforcer.
Strength.
Courage.
Honour.
Guardian.
All words that pretty much sum up what a bunch of imposters men really are.
Of course we don’t want to admit it.
We talk a big, big game … but when we are called upon to step up to the plate, that’s when so many of us reveal [even though we do our best to hide it] we’re most definitely the weaker sex.
The reason I am saying this is because I recently saw a video that laid out the whole ugly truth in startlingly undeniable detail.
You better sit down, it’s going to be hard to watch …
Seriously, why Cindy Gallop isn’t all over this video?
All her arguments would be won in an nanosecond.
OK guys, I know I’ve broken the ‘male code’ by revealing this in public, but I have blog posts to write so it had to be done. And on the bright side, now we know why Marilyn Monroe said “Women who want to be like men lack ambition”.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Comment, Confidence, Insight, Men
So recently I was in Berlin and had one of the most underwhelming dinners of my life at Soho House.
For those of you who don’t know Soho House, they describe themselves as a ‘private members’ club for people in the creative industries’.
Maybe that’s true, but having gone to the bathroom and seen their urinals, I think Soho House Berlin is actually a private members club for men who like to think they’re big swinging dicks so will happily pay their $2000 annual membership fee just so they can keep using their toilets that have been designed to reaffirm their delusions.
Or something.
Regardless, it’s evil genius – because to paraphrase Bernie Madoff, when you offer people something they want, they never want to look too hard into it because they don’t want their fantasy to be shown for its reality.