Marketing Roadmaps

Women PR bloggers don’t like stereotypes

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This is the least pleasant post I have ever written. But I am going to write it anyway. Because I am really pissed off, and this is my blog.

Male PR bloggers: do you understand that the reason so many of your female peers are less than impressed with the blog that rhymes with Smurfette is not the digs at Steve or BL. They are big kids, they can handle it. It is the negative stereotype of women that drives us to distraction.

We have worked very hard in our careers, and are proud of our achievements. We have dealt with the "she’s too pretty," "not pretty enough," "aggressive," "too soft," "sleeping with the boss," "going to get married and have kids anyway," not to mention the glass/plexiglass ceiling and have been successful despite the roadblocks. With all due respect, there is absolutely no way a businessman can understand the issues faced by a businesswoman. In any industry.

And that is why many of us were less than pleased with the stereotyped persona of the PR gossip blog that has consumed so much attention this week. It was everything we have worked so hard to overcome. It was hard to believe that another woman wrote it. Oh, wait a minute..maybe it wasn’t a woman. And I don’t really care who wrote the damn blog, it’s the stereotype that does the damage. That it might be a man perpetuating his wet dream just makes it even more disgusting.

Yet the coverage in the blogosphere has been focused on the digs, and has (for the most part) ignored the women bloggers. Just today more than a few  posts that were really really  trying to be even handed still only represented the opinions of men on this topic. Pardon me, but yuck.

So let’s hear from the women PR bloggers. What did they think of this PR gossip blog? Oh.. wait a minute. None of us fell for this crap. We thought it was … crap.  Hmmm.

And to give credit where credit is due, more than a few guys stepped up to the plate.They got it. Robert French. Todd Defren. Daniel Bernstein. Gary Goldhammer. Mike Krempasky. Thanks.

The rest of you? We still like you, but get with the program.

And Amanda. She (or he) just keeps insulting other women. In her/his/its blog and in comments on others. So pardon me, but fuck off until you have the guts to attach your real name to your opinions. Google Amanda Chapel.

PS – this replaces the post I promised to write about neutering my dog if the smurfette blogger proved to be male. Uncross your legs, guys, we’re not looking for you….

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  1. Susan:

    Thanks for your post. I actually wrote about her (or it) as well, but to get “link love” for some worthy non-profit blogs. Robert French’s project deserves support, so I thought I’d throw some good water after the bad. Check out these non-profit blogs by visting my blog at Envisioning 2.0 (http://fardj.prblogs.org).

    Best,

    Fard

  2. Thanks for the comment. Folks, check out Fard’s blog and give a little love to the charities in his post. Much more productive than spending any more time thinking about smurfette.

  3. Susan – I’m guilty more for what I did not say vs. what I did say. While I could have elevated the conversation, I think my post shows we did not take IT very seriously. That’s my rationale.

    But I could not have said it better than you did above. You are right and I agree with you and Kami.

  4. Susan; Thanks for your post, I didn’t post until yesterday becuase I thought all of this talk about how not to take ourselves seriously the “refreshing” new site was finally more than I could bear. The second post, which I carefully seperated from the first, was something I have been meaning to do since December. Somehow, it just seemed appropriate now.

  6. Powerwomen you are. I hope the name catches on – strength in numbers.

    Susan, great stuff. It’s hard to disagree that stereotypes stink. Here’s a question for you, what’s the next angle to take with this to give your argument stronger legs? Attack MTV for their canned Powergirls show? Scoop a big agency’s chauvinistic hiring practices? Publish an anonymous account of real-life discrimination? I’m not sure. Question is, where does the real problem lie? Is it with public’s image of the Samantha Jones-like female PR professionals, or is it with the public’s perception of PR in general? More questions than answers here…it’s been a crazy week. Best of luck, Susan.

  7. Hey Susan,

    Thank you. I’d like to try and get a few of y’all to join me with my students sometime to chat about this. I’ve asked Andrea and Kami already. Maybe we can get Alice and some others?

    I’m willing to do a Skype conference call (or some form or another) during their class for just say 30 minutes or so.

    Does that sound interesting to you?

    Robert

  8. Thanks for all the comments, and apologies for the lateness of this comment, but I’ve been out of the office most of the day at a client.

    Kevin, your post was funny and I did enjoy the way you poked at the guys that fell for the scam. It just seemed that the issue of the stereotype was not getting enough attention. Smurfy didn’t just diss Steve and BL, she dumped on every woman in the communications profession. And not to be sexist, but maybe you had to be a woman to really FEEL how damaging that was. I did give you points for trying 🙂

    Kami, your post was the best one on this whole issue. Full stop.

    Kirsten, sorry I missed your post. Thanks for including the URL.

    Daniel, thanks for your comment, and the term “Powerwomen.” Is the problem the perception of “pr girls” or pr in general? Chicken, egg. However, if we can’t get it right within our own profession, if *we* perpetuate the stereotypes, whether they be of hot PR chicks or slimy PR flacks, how can we expect the mass media to get it right?

    Robert, I would love to do a call with your class. Thank you for asking.

  9. Church Ousts Dominatrix from Vicarage

    JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A South African dominatrix has given up her battle to live in a vicarage, telling the church’s congregation they can “shove” the disputed residence, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.

    The Pretoria News said Marianne Ellis

  10. Susan, I’ve obviously been leading a sheltered life this week (off line doing a client project most days) and missed the initial uproar. So, belatedly, let me just say, AARGGHHHH! I’m with you and once I get over my initial sputtering flamer reaction, I’ll be posting on this insult to women. It sure reads like a man writes it.