A new age of sexism

Sexism has changed since the days of Mad Men. One thing the Egotist
touches really well on is the subtle nuance of sexism that you find in
the advertising industry. A man can no longer just grab your ass or
openly sexually harass you; instead, when you say your opinion, he
thinks you're a bitch. He sees you as emotional and less strong than
himself. In many subtle ways, women simply aren't expected to be as
good as men in the workplace. The fact that 1 woman to 15 men hold C/
VP level positions in our industry proves it. That's pathetic. So how
do we become that 1 lucky woman? We play our cards.


In high school, I had one teacher who was a blatant chauvinist. He
thought I was less smart than my male classmates. I used to get so
angry in class whenever he would say things like "K, do you know the
answer? No you probably don't." He would openly mock me and other
girls in the class. At the time, I didn't know how to handle him. I
was 16 and still hadn't quite grasped the fact that I'd hit puberty
and was now regarded as a woman (with big boobs no less).
It got to the point that I couldn't take his criticism and mockery any
more. I walked out. I stood up, and said "I can't deal with you," and
stormed out of the classroom. In retrospect, that's really not a way
to get an A, but at the time I didn't know any better. I hadn't yet
grasped that I was different than men. No that's wrong, not that I'm
different, but that I'm considered different. I had to make a change.


I learned how to play my cards. I took on a new attitude: friendly,
flirtatious and slightly sarcastic, but not enough to offend anyone. I
learned how to tell people what I was thinking in a non-threatening
way. That lesson has translated over to the work world, and it's
helping me tackle the boys club in advertising.


Welcome to Playing with Cards: A blog about being female in today's
Advertising World.