For over thirty years women have been fighting to work their way up to professional ladder; yet in 2009 only 6.3% of corporate top earners were women. In her article “Swagger Like Us” Ann Friedman explores three solutions on how women can become high achieving individuals. Clay Shirky believes that the best way is for women to act like a man; being aggressive and crossing gender lines will allow them to be taken seriously. He states that colleges should offer a class to teach women self-advancement, as they do with self-defense. By being assertive a woman can make strides towards serious workplace gains, for example demanding a raise or a better title. The only way for a woman to make it in such a competitive world, according to Shirky, is
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On the contrary, Christina Hoff Sommers argues that women should play up their positive feminine traits and show men that their differences can be a force to better society. Female’s by nature are instinctive mediators, skillful multitaskers, level headed, and predominantly stable; which all contribute to a woman's success in the workplace. Sommers believes that it is important for women to push beyond family and apply their qualities for charity, politics, and government; by doing so she can excel further than she could imagine. Friedman, on the other hand, finds flaws in both Sommers and Shirky’s opinions; going off of their solutions she composes her own theory: if we all work together, men and women, we can change the system itself. She explains that if a lady acts too much like a man, she will be viewed as an “uppity bitch”; if she attempts to play up her femininity, chances are she will not be taken seriously. To Friedman the only way to achieve equality in the workplace is through the people who are already in powerful positions; those who hire, promote, write recommendations, and mentor must look past gender stereotypes and assess a woman for the person she actually is. Friedman herself has taken action and searches for female writers to voice their
On the contrary, Christina Hoff Sommers argues that women should play up their positive feminine traits and show men that their differences can be a force to better society. Female’s by nature are instinctive mediators, skillful multitaskers, level headed, and predominantly stable; which all contribute to a woman's success in the workplace. Sommers believes that it is important for women to push beyond family and apply their qualities for charity, politics, and government; by doing so she can excel further than she could imagine. Friedman, on the other hand, finds flaws in both Sommers and Shirky’s opinions; going off of their solutions she composes her own theory: if we all work together, men and women, we can change the system itself. She explains that if a lady acts too much like a man, she will be viewed as an “uppity bitch”; if she attempts to play up her femininity, chances are she will not be taken seriously. To Friedman the only way to achieve equality in the workplace is through the people who are already in powerful positions; those who hire, promote, write recommendations, and mentor must look past gender stereotypes and assess a woman for the person she actually is. Friedman herself has taken action and searches for female writers to voice their