women in publishing
Working at home - in a feminist view
01/13/10 10:11 Filed in: indexers
Virginia
Heffernan in the NYT:
I had a revelation recently: a woman’s place is not in the home; it’s from the home!...
Telecommuting is a familiar story, but I must sing its praises again — this time in a feminist key. For a century and a half, Mary Wollstonecraft types have tried to empower women to leave the home to work, shop, teach, learn, lead. Instead, without even marking the moment, we superempowered the home. Now if a woman stays home she’s not unambitious or antifeminist; she is — in the acronym of mothering message boards — a WAHM, a work-at-home mom, the most treasured of all the mom options (stay at home = bored; work outside the home = exhausted). This is good news. With technology that allows the WAHM to be simultaneously inside and outside, at home and at work, public and private, she no longer has to forfeit the manly rewards of grasping careerism....
And then there’s what you’re missing by skipping the office: the trafficky commute, the petroleum-based slacks by Theory or Banana Republic, the noli-me-tangere demeanor that women were supposed to cultivate to ensure boardroom authority. All of these duties vanish when workplace and homeplace become one.
And who doesn’t like being at home? Taking uncontested showers at noon. Creating sardine-driven lunches forbidden in cubicle zones. Making nice with clients where no one can overhear your fakeness. And all the while — thanks to the untraceable nature of cellphones and e-mail — you get to pretend that you’re anywhere but on your mangy floor wearing “yoga” pants with “Judge Judy” on mute.
I had a revelation recently: a woman’s place is not in the home; it’s from the home!...
Telecommuting is a familiar story, but I must sing its praises again — this time in a feminist key. For a century and a half, Mary Wollstonecraft types have tried to empower women to leave the home to work, shop, teach, learn, lead. Instead, without even marking the moment, we superempowered the home. Now if a woman stays home she’s not unambitious or antifeminist; she is — in the acronym of mothering message boards — a WAHM, a work-at-home mom, the most treasured of all the mom options (stay at home = bored; work outside the home = exhausted). This is good news. With technology that allows the WAHM to be simultaneously inside and outside, at home and at work, public and private, she no longer has to forfeit the manly rewards of grasping careerism....
And then there’s what you’re missing by skipping the office: the trafficky commute, the petroleum-based slacks by Theory or Banana Republic, the noli-me-tangere demeanor that women were supposed to cultivate to ensure boardroom authority. All of these duties vanish when workplace and homeplace become one.
And who doesn’t like being at home? Taking uncontested showers at noon. Creating sardine-driven lunches forbidden in cubicle zones. Making nice with clients where no one can overhear your fakeness. And all the while — thanks to the untraceable nature of cellphones and e-mail — you get to pretend that you’re anywhere but on your mangy floor wearing “yoga” pants with “Judge Judy” on mute.
Where are the women?
08/11/09 10:42 Filed in: miscellany
From
Fast Company
When you look around the room at a tech or social media conference what do you see? Are the panels filled with a diverse group of tech and social media experts? Chances are they are probably filled with white men. So why is that a bad thing, when after all, the tech sector is comprised of about 75% men and 25% women? It’s a problem because when we design technology and social media platforms we design it for all. Women make up approximately 50% of computer and social media users. By not filling panels with diverse speakers, we tend to give conference attendees only male perspectives on tech and social media, when in reality our consumers and users are men, women, people of color, etc.
The lack of women represented at tech conferences has been discussed and debated for years, though it has not been a hot button issue publically as it has been privately until now (Women Snubbed in Top Ten Speakers List, Diversifying Speakers at Tech and Social Media Conferences, At the Ideas Conference, Women Don't Have Any).
This is a question I have been asking for a long time. I ask it when Wired comes out with its issues of the "top 100 important people." When Time or Newsweek does the same.
Indexers seem to be much more gender-balanced at presentations and conferences, but what do you think the proportions of male to female indexers over all are in our field? My impression is that this is a heavily female field, and that many of the males lean towards the technical end, but that's just my impression.
When you look around the room at a tech or social media conference what do you see? Are the panels filled with a diverse group of tech and social media experts? Chances are they are probably filled with white men. So why is that a bad thing, when after all, the tech sector is comprised of about 75% men and 25% women? It’s a problem because when we design technology and social media platforms we design it for all. Women make up approximately 50% of computer and social media users. By not filling panels with diverse speakers, we tend to give conference attendees only male perspectives on tech and social media, when in reality our consumers and users are men, women, people of color, etc.
The lack of women represented at tech conferences has been discussed and debated for years, though it has not been a hot button issue publically as it has been privately until now (Women Snubbed in Top Ten Speakers List, Diversifying Speakers at Tech and Social Media Conferences, At the Ideas Conference, Women Don't Have Any).
This is a question I have been asking for a long time. I ask it when Wired comes out with its issues of the "top 100 important people." When Time or Newsweek does the same.
Indexers seem to be much more gender-balanced at presentations and conferences, but what do you think the proportions of male to female indexers over all are in our field? My impression is that this is a heavily female field, and that many of the males lean towards the technical end, but that's just my impression.
Leading women in the American book industry
05/21/09 10:43 Filed in: publishing
Book Business honors the top 50 women shaping the
American book industry. No indexers, sigh.... but
still, good to get a glimpse of these women and their
presses!
Gwenyth Jones, Vice President of Publishing Information Systems and Technologies, John Wiley & Sons
Jones has worked at Wiley for more than 25 years in the professional and trade operation, in roles ranging from publicist to publisher. She now oversees various digital publishing services, including media development, e-business development and Web site management.
Tip: “To navigate a successful journey from print to digital, take a tip from Virginia Woolf and be sure that, as you move through the trough of the waves, you never forget the view from the lighthouse. You must understand both the long view of where your customers are headed, and execute successfully by paying attention to every detail.”
Gwenyth Jones, Vice President of Publishing Information Systems and Technologies, John Wiley & Sons
Jones has worked at Wiley for more than 25 years in the professional and trade operation, in roles ranging from publicist to publisher. She now oversees various digital publishing services, including media development, e-business development and Web site management.
Tip: “To navigate a successful journey from print to digital, take a tip from Virginia Woolf and be sure that, as you move through the trough of the waves, you never forget the view from the lighthouse. You must understand both the long view of where your customers are headed, and execute successfully by paying attention to every detail.”