EQUALITY MYTH

How Men and Women Pitch Stories—an Awl Sampling

In light of CNN talking head-to-be Kathleen Parker taking a brave stand on how Obama does things in “a woman’s way,” the Awl’s Choire decided to take a look at the ol’ Awl inbox, where people pitch stories. The emails from men, he says, are pretty direct,” while the women are falling all over themselves with apologies.

Inquiry letter from a man:

“Do you take pitches? Should I just write something and send it? Do I have to tickle the balls? I want to write for the awl, dammit.”

Inquiry letter from a woman:

“As an long-time admirer of your site (and non-too-frequent registered commenter), I’ve been too shy to pitch as I’ve never felt like my work measured up to your fine standards.”

Inquiry letter from a man:

“Can you offer a word of advice regarding how submissions work, desired timetables, what you like the pitches to look like, and so forth?”

Inquiry letter from a woman:

“I’m sure I’m going about this all wrong, but I couldn’t find any sort of submission area on the site. What I’m wondering is, how does one go about becoming a contributor to The Awl?”

This is quote appalling, actually. And sad. Why do women insist on apologizing for everything they do? We have a friend, the most direct, confident person we’ve ever met (like, really, ever—we imagine him in a tiny business suit as a child). Whenever we’re feeling less-than-confident, we think, What Would Adam Do? And we pretend we have a dick.

Now if there was ever a time to read Rachel Simmons’ Curse of the Good Girl, it’s now.

-jessica

Why Can’t Women Keep Up With Men? Try the Curse of the Good Girl

Our perennial favorite girl-advocate Rachel Simmons has a fabulous piece up at the Huffington Post today about the ongoing conversation about workplace equality—and its connection to adolescent girls. She writes:

Women, and our struggle for workplace equality, seem to be having a moment. Seems like everywhere you look lately, there’s a story about how we don’t seek or win enough money for tech start-ups; how we still face sexism in the workplace; how there are not enough of us speaking as experts in national media; how we’re too nice to ask for lots of money; and how there are not enough of us willing to “behave like arrogant, self-aggrandizing jerks.”

Hand-wringing ensues. It’s sexism. It’s change that’s slow to come. It’s racism. It’s socialization. And yet one thing is very clear: almost no one is making more than a passing connection to girls.

Boys need help, too, Rachel continues. “But I can’t stand the argument that girls are flying high, powered by Title IX, mothers who boycotted Barbie and Girl Scout cookie sales. Because it’s just not true.”

Institutional sexism is certainly still an issue. But part of this is cultural, too: girls may look great on paper, but when it comes to the real world, they face a psychological glass ceiling.