BlogHer - women in business - Comments

Not sure about that study

mashadutoit — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 07:50:12 -0500

That study probably reveals more about the extent to which women and girls have to be explicitly aware of gender than about their need for role models. I'm reminded of my fellow students - in the days of apartheid and whites only schools - blithely saying that they dont consider race to be important, and therefore they are not racist. If you are white, you can afford to be un-aware of racial issues.

Maybe if you are female, you are more aware of women who act outside of their supposed gender roles...

I cant say I have a role model. But I do have a special place in my heart for strong women who excel in any of the fields that I am interested in. As you say, they often dont fit the "role model" idea in my mind because of differences in the way they conduct their personal lives - or maybe their personalities are so differnt from mine I would not want to emulate them.

But it is still very important to me to know about people like Patti Smith, Leni Riefenstahl, Kathe Kollwitz, Katherine Hepburn, Helen Suzman. And the fact that they are women does matter. It matters to me.

Reaching for the Stars in Business

kaira — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:15:55 -0500

Ann, it sounds like you are on the right path! One of the hardest steps is just getting started and everyone needs a great writer. I suggest you start thinking about your personal brand. Your brand is your unique competitive advantage. If you visit my website there is a chart creator to help get you started.

Kaira Author, Real You Incorporated: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs www.RealYouIncorporated.com

Entrepreneurial Dreams

apietrangelo — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:01:54 -0500

My husband has a favorite quote from William Arthur Ward:

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it."

I've taken that to heart. I am not exactly starting up a business, but I am working on redefining myself in the world of freelance writing. The odds are probably not on my side. But I have imagined it and I have dreamed it. I am on the road to becoming it.

Stories like the ones you highlighted keep me going. Thank you for a great post.

Ann Pietrangelo

My Website: AnnPietrangelo.com

Single Women Entrepeneurs

Giggle On — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:01:29 -0500

Christa @ www.giggleon.com

Great advice Allison! Your're right about entering into uncharted waters. Thankfully, I had a great mentor to show me the way when I started my business.

I'm new to blogher but I do have a post on my blog called, "Entrepreneur: Egomaniac, Raging Bitch or Just Outright Crazy/" at
http://www.giggleon.com/2008/01/entrepreneur-egomaniac-raging-bitch-outr...

You might get a kick out of the blog, and relate to it. I wrote this one evening after a long frustating day but in retrospect, it felt great to get all these feelings and rantings out.

Feel free to use this as a supplement for any of your client's looking for advice.

Best of luck and feel free to visit me at www.giggleon.com

Trolls and the Dark Knight

Liz Henry — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:28:13 -0500

I didn't like the way gender was used in The Dark Knight. The male characters treated women as property to be fought over. What's her name, the utterly forgettable paragon of virtue who Batman and Two-Face struggle to own, only speaks up to deny that her life is worth anything or to try and decide which patriarch gets her (and the city) as a prize.

And the potentially great character of Barbara Gordon was reduced to a weepy dishrag of a gullible mom and wife, with no agency or voice of her own.

Anyway, about trolls, they'll do whatever they please; if they take it over the line to direct and imminent threats of harm then report it to the police just as you would in regular non-online life.

I disagree with attempts to make the net "safe space" or to ban hate speech by law though I think setting community standards on a site, or your own standards on your own site, are just fine. We get to call out attempts to intimidate us based on our gender and just have to keep pointing out how screwed up they are, and carrying on whatever it is we talk about in public and not be intimidated.

-----------------
Liz Henry
lizzard@bookmaniac.net
Contributing Editor, World and Latin America

Believe it or not

alyssaroyse — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:38:07 -0500

Between the P-I and I, I think we've deleted about 50 or so comments. And I have now closed comments on it, so that pretty much stopped it. I actually would have left them all up just so that people can see, first hand, the kind of stuff that happens. It's hard to be outraged by something that is just hypothetical... well, here it is. Unfortunately, the ones that got taken down were the worst ones - the most violent and threatening and gross - so they were also the most powerful ones that might enrage and inspire others in to action!

____________

Alyssa Royse

Just Cause It: A Web Site To Save The World

Start Her Up: A Blog for Women Entrepreneurs

moderating

The Blog That Ate New Jersey — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:31:49 -0500

doesn't anyone moderate those comments?

GREAT ARTICLE

alyssaroyse — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:18:04 -0500

I read that yesterday, and it's HORRIFYING! I never took any of the threats a statements personally or seriously, but am horrified as to what this says about people...... In the light of the 2 kids they cite in the articles who committed suicide over the cyber bullying, and Kathy Sierra giving up her blog and speaking engagements..... It's crazy. What can we do?

I put out a query on a PR list and got more than a dozen responses in an hour of people this happened to.... what's wrong with these trolls?

____________

Alyssa Royse

Just Cause It: A Web Site To Save The World

Start Her Up: A Blog for Women Entrepreneurs

i don't mind disagreement

alyssaroyse — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:37:40 -0500

In fact, I usually hope for disagreement, because that's where conversation and growth happen. What is astonishing to me are the calls that I should be staying at home having babies and / or raped and shot. Or simply irately calling names. That isn't dialog, that's just verbal violence.

It's also interesting to me - and this i could have made more clear - that people assumed I was looking at box office return of the movie, I wasn't, I was looking at the quality of the film, which is totally subjective. But that's not here nor there because my objection isn't to being disagreed with, it's to being berated and threatened and harassed as a result of a disagreement.

Truly frightens me as to what filth and grim lurks below the surface.

____________

Alyssa Royse

Just Cause It: A Web Site To Save The World

Start Her Up: A Blog for Women Ent

Sorry for the creeps ...

Totally_Consumed — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:23:02 -0500

It's hard to accept feedback from people who disagree with our perspective, especially when they passionately disagree. But I have to say, after reading your original article and the comments, I thought that most of the comments addressed your premise, not your gender.

The comments were from people who felt like your article was ironic because, as a business model, 'The Dark Knight' was wildly successful; and yet you hold it up as an example of poor business decision-making. How can it be such a poor business model and simultaneously one of the most successful business ventures of this decade?

When counting references to gender, I get a lot less than "maybe 3" that didn't mention gender. And for those inappropriate comments, I agree, they were way out of line, uncalled for and down-right scary. I'm truly sorry some creeps posted those terrible things.

Sincerely,

~ Totally Consumed

yikes!

christinajeanne — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:41:38 -0500

I'm sorry. that is terrible that people treat you that way just because you did not like the movie. I mean those are some pretty severe comments. I have never quite had that exprince but I have recived some pretty rude comments in the past on my blog or e-mails from people who read my blog. So I can sort of relate. I know it makes it so hard to blog and scared to say what you think. But don't let these people scare you.

Completely unnecessary

lucrecerb — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:04:55 -0500

Honestly, I have to wonder what is really going on when people leave comments like that. I defended a friend who was being virtually burned at the stake on a message board a few months ago and suddenly had offensive messages in my inbox. Luckily, I did not internalize what was said, but it also taught me that you just don't know what kind of people are reading your stuff and taking it literally.

I am sorry to hear this happened to you just because you had an opinion. Makes you wonder what the world is coming to.

Art Slam

www.candidartanddesign.com/artslam

Congratulations!

Maria Niles — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:56:00 -0600

That is a very impressive accomplishment, Elana :)

Thanks for the link

Denise — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 09:08:03 -0500

Imagine a 200 store all female owned shopping center in ANY country in the world - amazing and fantastic!

~Denise
Fast Times @ Homeschool High & Flamingo House Happenings