Women as CEOs

In our class discussion, a point was made concerning occupation and gender.  It is perceived that when men are strong and dominating in the work place it is considered that they are just doing their jobs and nothing is questioned.  However, when women are dominating in the workplace, they are considered unfeminine and a “bitch.”  Women in the workplace are not respected most of the time in corporate offices because of this stereotype.  My situation in my family, however, is different from this said stereotype.  My mom works for Frederick County government and she was recently promoted from treasurer to the director of finance.  This was a huge step for my mom in her career and she was against all odds and 3 other men while being a person of interest for this position.  She got the job and she was immediately pressured to not mess up or get rattled because if a “man” were in her position, that would never happen.  She was under a great deal of stress but she earned the name “pit-bull.”  She received this nickname because of her ability to state her opinion to her male colleagues and not backing down from a fight.   My mom is much respected in her position because her colleagues have realized that she does her job as well as a man would if the sexes were reversed.  She can be that typical business “bitch” but I just consider her being strong and decisive.   She also understands when she is in the wrong or if her idea doesn’t work.  My mom is one of the many women that were able to disprove what was going on in the corporate world because she is able to do her job and keep a household strong.  I believe that the idea of occupation and gender should no longer be an issue because people have different skills that should not be gender specific.  If you have more talent than the person sitting next to you, you should get the job because of your accomplishments and skills, not your gender.  I also found the Valenti reading very interesting because she is so outspoken and does not really care what people think about her because being a feminist is so instilled in her.  She is proud to be a feminist and I believe that more women should be as outspoken as her!