Posted on 10/15/2005 8:17:02 PM PDT by nickcarraway
WHEN women first joined the executive ranks of corporate America a generation ago, they donned sober slacks and button-down shirts. They carried standard-issue briefcases and adopted their male colleagues' stoicism.
More than two decades later, women have stopped trying to behave like men, trading in drab briefcases for handbags and embracing men's wear only if it is tailored to their curves. Yet there is one taboo from the earlier, prefeminist workplace that endures: women are not allowed to cry at the office. It is a potentially career-marring mistake that continues to be seen as a sign of weakness or irrationality, no less by women themselves than by men.
For evidence consider a recent episode of NBC's "Apprentice: Martha Stewart," in which a young woman whose team had just lost a flower-selling contest told Ms. Stewart that she felt like crying. Her admission elicited no sympathy from her prospective employer, only blunt career advice.
"Cry and you are out of here," Ms. Stewart said. "Women in business don't cry, my dear."
Women in politics don't either, judging by Geena Davis's performance as the steely Mackenzie Allen on ABC's "Commander in Chief." Discussing the pilot episode, in which Allen navigates a political minefield to ascend to the office of president of the United States, Ms. Davis told a reporter from The Chicago Sun-Times, "I did not cry in my pilot - no!"
For reasons both biological and social, scientists and sociologists say, women are more inclined than men to feel the urge to cry when they are frustrated. Yet Martha Stewart is not the only woman executive who expects her underlings to remain dry-eyed. Many other workplace veterans also impose the rule and through seminars, books, Web sites and private conversations, recommend tricks for how to follow it.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Some women will indeed cry in the workplace as a strategy to elicit sympathetic treatment from a male superior, and thereby obtain favored treatment vis-a-vis their peers. This strategy can be quite effective in the case of a naive male superior.
If a woman cries because she's weak, that's one thing.
If she cries because she's soft.....
mmmmmmm.... that's another!
As for Hank, I love that show but my husband (an Al Bundy fan) can't stand it . I haven't been able to figure out why yet.
Worse than Ed Muskie was Mrs. Waldholtz (R-UT2). Enid Greene Waldholtz, wasn't it?
It's tough out there though. At work one is considered the other.
your tag is actually a misquote. Watch Blade Runner again and listen more carefully.
I can deal with women cry on occasion, but it's men who cry who really creep me out (I've witnessed it twice). I just don't know how to deal with a man after that (I tend to treat them like a crazy person who might go totally mental at any second).
Heh. Mine are actually somewhere on the border between green and hazel, though they lean towards green. Not that many people have pure penetrating green eyes, though it is gorgeous when it occurs -- a pure deep green is mesmerizing. It is a rare gene, and I am a bit of a mutt. All my siblings have blue eyes.
I am well aware of this. I adapted it to be relevant for my purposes.
I was mesmerized:') Vain, huh? lol
We hired a lady for our installs team. She botched her first installation, and left the work site crying. She was even ex-military. On the other hand, my sister is a project manager at another company and expects the other person to do the crying, and they have. She fears no one, except me, and thats only because I have the psychological edge of being the older sibling.
My wife died 5 years ago, totally beautiful, very loving, and quite young.
I still cry... just not as much.
Don't demand.
Command.
Don't lead with the chin.
Lord, I'm glad I'm not in corporate America.
About 8 years ago, when my son graduated from Navy boot camp the women cried if they didn't get the schools they wanted. Men who were more qualified were passed over and assigned to other schools or jobs so the crybaby girls could have their way.
Also, everybody in boot camp was aloud to hold up a sign, flag or something when they "just couldn't take any more". I wonder how that's working for them in the real world?
Cry all you need too. Tears are actually healing.
I understand. I've cried and still cry about loved ones. I didn't mean crying about something important. I meant men who cry about stress at work.
I'm truly sorry I didn't make that clear in my initial post.
Nah, I think every person should have something about themselves that mesmerizes them. A little vanity never hurt anyone. :-) Honestly though, if I could have any color eyes, green would be it.
Life deals a lot of tough hands, some tougher than others. One way or another, most of us get through it with what we are given. Green eyes are the characteristic mark of a people who have persevered and prospered when given the worst this world has to offer. The only advantages I've had in this life are my brains and my green eyes, and I've made the most of them. ;-)
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