
Running a business with boobs: the things I never say (NSFW) - rmason
https://medium.com/fuzzy-sharp/running-a-business-with-boobs-the-things-i-never-say-ac58a48c674?__s=rxd5fssyproriq3sykct#.z2rn9cryx
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BuuQu9hu
I enjoyed this article until the closer at the very end:

"Having boobs and running a business is exactly the same as having a penis and
running a business, except boobs are more aesthetically pleasing. I hope, at
minimum, we can all agree on that."

Female CEOs are exactly the same as male CEOs, except women are more
aesthetically pleasing?

~~~
jrs235
>except women are more aesthetically pleasing

No, you put words in her mouth. She believes boobs are more aesthetically
pleasing than penises.

~~~
Ace17
So, the original point still stands, but on naked CEOs.

~~~
jrs235
Not necessarily. I might find long hair more aesthetically pleasing than boobs
or penises.

She's merely compared two different body parts, which in our culture are more
than not covered by clothing in business matters.

Let's not get too distracted by the last sentence of her article. There's more
substance in the paragraphs preceding it.

EDIT: For anyone that misses my point about hair, men and women can have long
hair.

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ColinCochrane
_Here’s an example: while interviewing a man for a comptroller position, he
asked me if I was familiar with financial statements, like a balance sheet.
This person knew I had been an entrepreneur for years. When I simply replied
yes, because I found the question so mystifying, I was met with laughter and a
five minute lecture on why balance sheets matter. A lecture that would have
been more fitting for a high school level finance class than an interview with
a CEO who carved out a precious 30 minute slot to speak with a candidate._

That is brutal. I don't understand how someone could be so tone-deaf,
especially in a job interview.

~~~
Frondo
Listen to women talk about man-splaining, and you start to realize that this
is really, really super common. Men condescend to women _all the time_ , and
for us men, we're simply never exposed to it.

The only way we find out is when women tell us (and they have to trust us
enough to know we won't dismiss their stories out of hand).

~~~
belorn
A theater group made the news a few days ago when they gender swapped the two
candidates in the us election and reenacted a few of the political debates. A
comment that often got back was how Clinton's speech was received as
completely mansplaining when it was repeated word-by-word by a man.

It is very anecdotal counter example, but saying that men never get exposed to
condescending from women don't seem true at all.

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finid
If I were a musician, I'd write a song titled, "What's boobs got to do with
it".

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advisedwang
The point about assuming women are not ambitious really hits home. That is the
perfect example of social bias against women in leadership.

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notacoward
The first point ("don't invite me to an event...") seems to create a bit of a
conundrum. Let's say you're running an event. You've done everything you can
to make the submission and selection process as gender-neutral and woman-
friendly as possible, but you still have an overwhelmingly male slate. Maybe
there's still some vestige of sexism left in the system. What do you do?

(1) Go with the mostly-male slate. After all, you tried.

(2) Reach out to women more, and admit you're doing so because you think it's
important for women in the audience to see that they have a chance to be on
the stage some day and/or you can't rule out the possibility that your process
wasn't as gender-blind as you wanted it to be.

(3) Reach out to women more, but hide your reasons.

The article seems to discourage (2), but is that really worse than the other
options? I'm skeptical. I'd say that (2) _done well_ would be the best option,
though I can also see how it might be done very poorly.

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rebootthesystem
Tangent:

One of my pet peeves are blogs without a link to the company. Clicking the
logo takes you to the blog, not the company. Missed opportunity. Don't make
people have to google your company name to find your website.

~~~
tekknolagi
> "I started out life as a baby and then a little girl in Detroit and now I
> live in LA and run Lumi."

Where "Lumi" links directly to the company website.

~~~
rebootthesystem
You made my point. It should be prominent, not hidden or non-existent.

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finid
_Having boobs and running a business is exactly the same as having a penis and
running a business, except boobs are more aesthetically pleasing. I hope, at
minimum, we can all agree on that._

At a minimum, yes, but that's an apple to oranges comparison. A boob is not
equivalent to a penis.

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finid
Short and to the point, but nope, don't get too excited, guys. The NSFW part
is not much.

~~~
gibbitz
I'm irritated that this was labeled NSFW over a nipple. The message is way too
important to turn people away over being prudish. If HR reprimanded you over
reading an article related to HR practices in regards to gender you need to
point out the irony.

~~~
finid
Not sure, but I think the NSFW tag was from the poster.

