International Women's Day

by Meredith

March 8 of every year is International Women's Day.  In different regions of the world celebrations range from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements.

{Poster for Women's Day, March 8 1914}

Why Woman Don't Get Caught In Sex Scandals

Last week, when yet another male politician/celebrity, Rep. Anthony Wiener, confessed to sexting a young woman among others, the whole situation seemed almost laughable. He confessed his "terrible mistakes" and declared himself "deeply sorry for the pain" he caused. What is with these guys? Do these influential men never think they will get caught? Now we can just put Wiener in the same category as: Mark Sanford, Eliot Spitzer, John Ensign, John Edwards and Bill Clinton to name a few.

It may be easy to simply say this is bad male behavior or to dismiss it as a testosterone-induced, hard-wired connection between sex and power - powerful men attract women, powerful women repel men. And some may say that working women are just too busy to cheat on men.

However, these is substantial evidence that shows there are differences between the women and men who try to get a head in politics. Women tend to join in politics to help a reason they are wanting to change. More of them want to make a difference than men. Men tend to run because they see it as a career path they want to conquer.

Women tend to not want to get involved unless they know it is something they are passionate about. Men tend to just look at other politicians, and say ' I can do that.'

Another reason women may not cheat in politics is that they feel they need to do more to compete with their male colleagues. They feel the pressure to do well is much greater than men do.

I'm not saying that women are immune to sex scandals. I'm just saying that their is a trend with men, and I'm not sure women politicians could overcome these obstacles like some of their male counterparts have.

Whatever the reason for the difference, I think maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to ask more women to join into politics and that it shouldn't be so off balance. I was inspired to write this post after watching the This Week report. Let me know your thoughts please!

Cause-Marketing Reality Check: New Study Finds Women Are Strongest Believers in the Power of Supporting Causes

Eight in 10 American women believe supporting causes creates a sense of purpose and meaning in life. American women are strong believers in the power of individuals to make a difference by supporting causes, while their male counterparts are most likely to view supporting causes as a fad, according to new data recently released by Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and Georgetown University's Center for Social Impact Communication. When it comes to social media, women are mosre likely than men to recognize the role that sites like Facebook can play in facilitating cause involvement. Two-thirds of women (65%) believe that social networking sites can increase visibility for causes, and six in ten (60%) believe they allow people to support causes more easily. It comes as no surprise, then, that women are more likely to support causes through promotional social media activities (e.g. joining a cause group on Facebook, posting a logo to a coail profile, contributing to a blog) than men (17% vs. 12%, respectively). Women also turn to social media as a source of cause information more often than men - though for both, this lags far behind traditional TV and print media sources and personal relationships.

The findings are part of the larger Dynamics of Cause Engagement study, conducted among American adults age 18 and older in late 2010, which explored trends in cause involvement and the roles of a variety of activities in fostering engagement with social issues.

5 Social Tips for Women to Increase Media Exposure

Locate and follow journalists and bloggers online.

Most journalists and bloggers have a Twitter handle or another online source to share content and ask questions. Take the time to follow them and read what they are working on. Get to know them on some level and join in the conversation when you can. This will help you build a relationship with them. The key is to think, how can I benefit them rather than how can they benefit me.

Leave a trail so others can follow you.

We live in a time of digital technology and we want instant answers to our questions. Journalists highly rely on the Internet for resources, and you should watch your own SEO. Make sure you have an online presence and use hyperlinks and other connections online to build your own SEO. This will make it easy for others to find and learn about you. Further, if you're going to build a social media outlet for yourself, make sure it represents yourself well. Think of your overall objective always.

Produce interesting content.

Use your website, blog or social media outlet to showcase some of your best and most interesting work, thoughts, creations, etc. Position yourself in the industry as someone who produces thought-worthy content. This does not mean you should blog or tweet just anything. Try to stay up on the news and trends, then look for unique angle that excites you and provides value. Then, learn basic SEO to try and position yourself better.

Be your best publicist.

Utilize social media releases and pitch yourself with viable story ideas to guest post on blogs with higher visibility traffic. Develop a microblogging strategy that encompasses a combination of publishing and publicity. Look for existing industry groups on social networks to increase your reach by participating in industry chats on Twitter, niche networks and message boards.

Be a resource to reporters.

Instead of pitching yourself, let them come to you with inquiries. Sign up for Help a Reporter Out (HARO) to receive daily email blasts with reporter queries from your local daily to the New York Times. Look for the stories you can serve as an expert resource to or provide helpful information to and respond.

Hey, John Boehner: Quit Crying

Is there a difference in how crying is seen between men and women? I say yes. John Boehner, the incoming Speaker of the House, the most powerful Republican in Washington, and a man who is a matter of days will be second in line for the presidency, has twice had an opportunity to introduce himself to the American people. And, on both of these occasions, has cried a lot.

There is a tradition of politics crying in American and it often ends with getting beat at the polls. However, already some of the incoming speaker's supporters are getting worried that the Ohio Republican's penchant for showing his emotions makes him look weak. On the other hand, others have champtioned Boehner for his willingness to be real.

Some have suggested there is a double standard. When Republicans cry, they are "compassionate conservatives" but crying women and Democrats furthers the stereotype that they're weak. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic woman who Boehner will replace has never cried in public. "For men, it is a sign of compassion. For women, it's a sign of weakness. it's the double standard that worries me," said Democratic strategist and ABC news consultant Donna Brazile. When Hillary Clinton cried briefly at a campaign stop in New Hampshire in 2008, she was criticized for manufacturing the tears as a way to appeal to women voters.

Regardless, it's something to think about. I believe that anyone can cry and should cry to work through stressful times or to deal with sadness. I think it's ok for even leaders to show emotion and compassion during a hard time. However, in a professional situation, you need to keep it together most of the time. You can't start crying all the time otherwise people are going to wonder why you're in control.

Earn Like a CEO

With only a handful of women in top corporate jobs, and even fewer among the highest earners, what is it that these women leaders are doing that the rest of us can do, too? The road to the top is never simple, but all the women who have made it share one common characteristic: drive. So, what's the leadership style that got them there?

Sixteen women CEOs earned $14.2 million - 42 percent more than their male counterparts' average in 2009.

"You just have to keep asking questions," said Carol Bartz, chief executive of Yahoo! in a recent interview. "Why do I have to be the know-it-all? I'm not that smart. But, I'm smart enough to just keep asking questions and say, is that the best you can do? Does that excite you? Will that excite the customer? Does this really have to work this way?

Here, other female directors share their success secrets:

Know your product, but more importantly, know your market. Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld reconstructed the iconic Oreo cookie into a wafer that Chinese consumers love.

Build a strong support base of employees who keep you motivated, advises Indra Nooyi, president of Pepsi Co. Nooyi says she considers those at work members of her extended family

Finally, to reach your highest earning potential, communicate with those at all levels of the company. Establishing relationships is crucial to mobility, notes Patricia Woertz, head of Archer Daniels Midland Company.

Lastly, when planning your financial future, experts say you should expected the unexpected.

"The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity." Ayn Rand

More Women Bring in the Big Bucks

It was recently reported that nationwide the number of women with six-figure incomes is rising at a much faster pace than for men.

About one in 18 women who work full-time earned $100,000 or more in 2009. This is a jump of 14 percent over two years ago according to the recent census results. In contrast, one in seven men made that much, up just four percent.

The swelling ranks of well-paid women workers are largely attributable to almost three decades of growth in the umber of women with the academic credentials to land good jobs. Women now outnumber men at almost every level of higher education, which three women attending college and graduate school for every two men. They get more master's degrees and more PhDs. Most law school students are women, as are almost half of all medical students.

However, women's advocates and groups representing professional women cautioned that a wage gap between the sexes remains stubbornly persistent and women are sparsely represented at the upper echelons of business. Just three percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women.

The gains that women continue to make in the workplace have come amid the worst recession in decades - a downturn that has been particularly harsh for men. Median pay and hours worked fell twice as much for men as for women. The share of workers earning $50,000 and up was flat for men but rose by five percent for women.

Those figures represent an economy in which manufacturing and construction, with more male workers than women, id declining while jobs requiring the higher education at which women excel have increased

The full-time workforce remains predominantly male, with 56 million men and 42 million women. Only a relatively small segment of either sex has passed the $100,000 benchmark - about 2.4 million working women and 7. million men earn that much. But, some analysts believe that the gap between men and women who are earning more than $100.000 will narrow further, at least for one group.

A report earlier this year from a consumer marketing firm found that unmarried women in their 20s who are childless and work in cities have caught up with or are ahead of young men living in all but a handful of the nation's largest metropolitan regions.

The Skinny on Hooters

Now here's a story headline: America's obesity epidemic has finally spread to the Hooters Girls. It's one thing when two-thirds of Americans are overweight, (primarily from eating the kind of food Hooters serves) but if 17,000 Hooters Girls start packing it on, well, this is indeed a national tragedy. Hooters marketing is simple, skinny women and fattening food, but this kind of sell does not come without societal costs.

Hooters is on the hook for alleged weight discrimination. Last week a Michigan judge ruled that two former waitresses filed a weight discrimination case against the restaurant chain could proceed with their cases.

Cassandra Marie Smith, one of the plaintiffs, alleges in her complaint that she began working at a Hooters in 2008. At the time she weight 145 pounds and 5'8'. In a performance evaluation earlier this year, she claims in her complaint, a restaurant manager advised her "to join a gym in order to lose weight and improve her looks so that she would fit better into the extra small-sized uniform." She alleged she was put on a 30-day "weight probation" and resigned. Leeanne Convery at the time was 4'11' and 115 pounds. Convery said in her lawsuit that she lost 15 pounds and was encouraged to take appetite-suppressing drugs, only to be told by a manager that she'd made no improvement. The official uniform for Hooters waitresses, they claim, comes in three sizes: extra extra small, extra small, or small.

Atlanta-based Hooters is dealing with America's obesity problem by putting some Hooters Girls on "weight probation," but turns out you may not be able to do that in Michigan, where a civil-rights law from the 1970s prohibits weight discrimination. The suit cites Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination by employers based on a number of factors. Height and weight discrimination were added in a 1976 amendment by then-state Rep. Thomas Mathieu.

Airlines have long been trying to force large passengers to buy two seats. Medical-equipment makers have had to develop heavy-duty gurneys and extra-large imaging machines. And even little ol' Natural Nails in DeKalb County, GA, recently made news for adding a $5 fat fee to its bills.

Hooters expectations are no different than those set for Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders or the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. "We have an image to uphold," Mr. McNeil said. "We've been upholding it for 27 years. Hopefully, we'll be doing it for another 27 years."

What do you think of this business case?

Sex and the City 2: A Promotion for a Life of Whimsical Carelessness

Even though I'm not a "Sex and the City" fanatic, I saw several episodes of the series and liked the characters and the actresses playing them. I still do. The half-hour episodes were well-written and snappy. However, I was thoroughly disappointed in SATC2 and thought it didn't do the six award-winning seasons and first movie justice, was over the top and borderline insulting. For those of you that loved SATC2, I really don't have anything good to say, so you probably should skip this post.

One of the main reasons I enjoyed watching SATC was for the high end fashion, but for some reason the sequel's outfits didn't live up to my expectations and I felt they were farfetched. The ladies have always loved the labels and bought expensive things, but it was still grounded in some sort of far-reaching reality, rather than a flashing showcase of life where money is no object. Also, this time around I often found myself saying, 'what is she wearing?' Rather than, "wow, that's really cool and unique."

I realize that during the Great Depression, Hollywood movies that portrayed glamour and good times were an escape mechanism and flights of fantasy. But, this is a cruel punishment to the average person in the work-a-day world who is upside down on a mortgage, looking for work and had to watch a quartet sit down to an all-you-can-eat buffet and gorge themselves for two hours, and talk about how utterly incredible the food was.

Starting with a flashback scene in the beginning, throughout the whole movie you're reminded of how old the women are. Samantha constantly talks about the vitamins and hormone creams she takes to stay younger, her Spanx and hot flashes. Yes, these lines are funny, but when the theme didn't stop, I thought, has Sex and the City lost its prime just like the characters?

Speaking of age, while watching the storyline unfold, I couldn't believe some of the characters behavior. The drama produced seemed like something an immature, young woman might do and be ridiculed for. Carrie is married to Big and still needs to be reminded that a kiss is still a kiss and that certain marital fundamentals actually do apply. Miranda quits her job because she feels silent in a firm of all men. Charlotte, a mom of two, shuts herself in a closet when two-year-old Rose's constant screaming and older sister Lily's attention-craving gets the best of her while baking cookies and finally Samantha, who is still single and mingling at the age of 52 insists on wearing the same clothes in Abu Dhabi where the culture is very different.

Lastly, I understand Samantha's character and I really do like her. However, I thought that she showed a lack of respect to a culture when she refused to cover herself somewhat in a Muslim culture country. This issue struck controversy across the globe.

As a young female business professional I really like the SATC storyline featuring single, professionally successful women charting their own course, while talking frankly about their experiences with sex, love and city life. I just thought it could have been done more realistically and tactful.

Is the Coupon Craze Just a Woman Thing?

As the recession continues, the redemption of coupons hits record highs last year; however men still aren't as quick to clip as women.

According to a Nielsen Media report, 311 billion coupons were distributed nationwide in 2009, but only 18 percent of grocery shoppers who used coupons at least once a year were male. This story was discussed in this morning's Star Tribune.

This doesn't mean that men don't want to save, but that they want to do it another way. Men find coupons to be a nuisance, that it's a pain to cut them, hold on to them and then remember to bring them and use them. They feel the preparation time is too cumbersome.

Does this mean that men don't like to think ahead? Some say that this theory goes back to the hunter/gatherer thing, when it was primarily women who had a vested interested in conserving. Others say that men prefer to buy in bulk than become a coupon clipper and believe they save the same amount of money.

Recently, NCH Marketing Services in Illinois released that nearly 93 percent of men who started using coupons when the recession began in 2009, say they plan to continue doing so. Do you think at least some of those coupons were clipped by women?

Birth Control Pill Turns 50: The Drastic Ways it has Progressed Women

Ironically, the 50th anniversary of birth control pills landed on Mother's Day, May 9th. The pill has completely changed women's reproductive lives and in doing so affected many other aspects. Since, I believe it's important to talk about. Previous generations of women had larger families, typically five or more kids. Today, families usually have one or two. Further, more babies today are born to women over 35 than to teenagers. This shows that the pill has taken great effect.

The pill has increased a woman's earning potential. By enabling women to delay childbearing, the pill appears to have made women more financially secure. The reason is fairly obvious. Women who get their careers going before having kids are more likely to get the education and work experience needed to get and keep better-paid positions, even if they later take time off to raise kids.

The pill made infertility into an epidemic. Oral contraceptives don't cause infertility; ovulation usually resumes within a month or two after going off the pill. However, the trend toward shifting reproduction from a woman's early 20s (when she's most fertile) to her late 30s or early 40s (when fertility is on the wane) has dramatically increased since the pill became widespread, to the extent that 20 percent of couples contend with the issue.

The pill alleviated many menstrual problems. The pill helps many menstrual cycle problems, like sever cramps, migraines, and excessive bleeding. That's because the pill's withdrawal bleed is actually a fake period, much lighter and fueled by a smaller hormonal dip than normal periods triggered by the ovulation cycle. Pill users actually tend to have less trouble with endometriosis, and they have lower rates of ovarian cancer. However, the risk of blood clots and strokes increase with use of the pill, especially for those who smoke.

The pill opened the door for other hormonal birth control options. Hormonal contraceptives have come a long way in the past 50 years, even the pill today is hardly recognizable to a pharmacist from 1960. The doses of estrogen have declined and the synthetic progesterone component has also changed. Now, there are even pill options that aren't required to be taken daily: patches, vaginal rings, shots and more.

The pill lowered likelihood of unplanned pregnancies and abortions. When used right, the pill's effectiveness rate is about 99 percent. That's far better than older barrier methods. This has eliminated many surprises by allowing women to plan their lives a lot better and be much more prepared for a bundle a joy.

The pill altered women's sex drives and sex lives. Some say that the pill and other hormonal contraceptives quash a woman's natural sexual urges by lowering levels of the 'libido' hormone, testosterone. But, that has never been proven. Some say the opposite. However, the pill is credited for ushering in the secular revolution of the 60s. Without fear of pregnancy, women may have been more ' in the mood.'

The pill inspired the idea for a male pill. Lately, there has been a lot of emphasis on the creation of a male pill. There may be a pill someday, but at this point nothing has made it beyond clinical trials.

Traditional PR is Morphing Giving Women a Natural Advantage Working in the Industry

Is public relations changing again? I believe it is and that women have an advantage in this new PR industry.

I believe women public relations professionals have an advantage over men. Let's be honest, women have mastered the skill of personal relations by dealing with it for centuries for reasons other than business.

As business moves more to the web arena, sensibility is no longer a taboo word in business. Actually, I believe sense and sensibility have gained momentum because of the Internet. The Internet has created an entire new way for businesses to reach their target audiences and has opened up an entire new park in which consumers love to play. The web is completely driven by consumers that need, or demand, to engage with brands and products and companies they rely on and consume daily. Compared to just being thrown information without allowing interactive follow up.

This has lead me to the believe that, even though new, the industry of public relations is dying and morphing in form, into one of Personal (Unique) Relations other than Public Relations.

What do you think?

Equal Pay Day

Saturday, March 20th was Equal Pay Day, signifying how many days into the year it takes for the average woman to catch up in pay to her male counterparts.

In Minnesota, women earn about 72 cents for every $1 earned by men. This discrepancy not only hurts Minnesota families, but also changes the dynamics of the workforce. Equal pay between genders could help both men an women contribute to a stronger economy.

I urge everyone involved to work toward eliminating the pay gaps that are still present in many Minnesota companies. The state could become a leader in equalizing pay standards by meeting this goal.

Academy Awards Edition

I truly enjoyed the 82nd Academy Awards. I thought they started off on a good note and entertained me the entire time. If you want to check out who won last night, click here.

Neil Patrick Harris started with a song-and-dance number, setting the theme, no on wants to do it alone. Continuing in that theme, the two hosts, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin descended from the sky and warmed up the audience with little teasers.

They worked their way through the nominees with edgy jokes.

• In 'Inglorious Basterds,' Christoph Waltz is obsessed with finding Jews. Well Christoph," gesture to the audience, "the mother lode."
• 'Precious,' "it really was the only film that lived up to its video game."

There were many Meryl Streep references and shots of a stone-faced George Clooney, but Martin and Baldwin were funny throughout. They were unafraid to appear in a double Snuggie backstage and introduced presenters with flair, "He directed ' A Single Man,' she weighs a single pound, Tom Ford and Sarah Jessica Parker", and did their best to keep things moving.

Other highlights from the night in my book included:

• A John Hughes memorial which displayed a montage of work he had done and monologues from a few people Hughes made famous.
• A very nice, yet simple, memorial to all the actors, actresses, musicians, producers, editors, PR, etc. in the film industry who passed in the last year. However, I was surprised that Farrah Fawcett was left off the list. I wonder how come.
• Teams from the 'So You Think You Can Dance' performed to the scores up for Best Music - Original Score.
• In my opinion, great speeches came from Oprah Winfrey, who praised Gabourey Sidibe for her nomination for best leading actress, Sandra Bullock who gave an emotional and hilarious speech, in which she thanked, among many others, those who supported her when "it was not fashionable," and Mo'Nique who won for Best Support Actress; she always gives a moving an powerful speech.
• I laughed out loud when Ben Stiller presented the award for best makeup in full Na'vi, down to the tail. He was hilarious when commenting that he dressed up like this and 'Avatar' wasn't even nominated in this category.
• The first win for a woman for Best Director - Kathryn Bigelow, Director of 'The Hurt Locker' "I hope I'm the first of many," Bigelow said. "I'd love to just think of myself as a filmmaker, and I long for the day when a modifier can be a moot point. But, I'm ever grateful if I can inspire some young, intrepid, tenacious male or female filmmakers and have them feel that the impossible is possible."

Minneapolis Woman Puts 3/50 Idea on Blog & Now has 16,000 Supporters

The 3/50 Project started as a quick blog post by retail consultant and speaker, Cindy Baxter. Baxter was watching Oprah's talk show when Suze Orman was the guest telling viewers to cut out unnecessary spending in order to save money and help the economy. Baxter disagreed and posted "Oprah, you've got it wrong," in a blog entry, not knowing the post would launch a thousand e-mails and a new business venture.

Baxter's glob entry suggested an alternative: Pick three locally owned stores you don't want to see go away. Spend $50 a month among them. Keep local businesses humming. From there the idea went viral. Marketing expert Seth Godin stumbled across Baxter's blog and endorsed the 3/50 Project. Word spread quickly on Twitter. Businesses and individuals across the country became Facebook fans by the hundreds. Flooded with requests for more information, Baxter threw up a website and put together a ready-made marketing campaign that small business could download for free. She encouraged businesses to feature the 3/50 Project logo on their websites and to get fliers into the hands of customers who might not realize the power of their purse.

Baxter's fliers quote studies by civic Economics, an economic analysis consulting firm. That found that for every $100 spent in independently owned stores, $68 comes back to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. National chains contribute to about $43.

I wanted to inspire all of you to voice your opinions and ideas, either through social media or another outlet. Things can happen if you just speak up. This blog post was inspired by reading the Star Tribune this morning. Check out the article printed in today's Business Insider Section for more info.

Issues Surrounding Coaches Comments of Vonn’s Weight Could Have Been Avoided

Recently, Austrian media reported that coaches discussing downhill skier Lindsey Vonn, the reigning downhill and overall World Cup champion, said she would have an advantage in speed events because she was carrying additional weight. This is incredibly tacky, and I do not believe that this comment would have been made had Vonn not been a woman.

According to The Associated Press, Vonn said the comments didn't weigh on her but served as motivation when she won a trio of World Cup races, dominating three days of speed racing in Haus im Ennstal, Austria, this month.

Last week in a teleconference, Von said that she takes pride in being fit and fast and "if weight were the key to success in ski racing, then everyone would be stuffing their faces with food. ...I just think it's pretty ridiculous and it definitely irritated me." Vonn said.

I thought it was interesting that Vonn put more blame on the journalists than the coaches who actually made the comments. "But, you know, I think in all fairness, I think it was an exaggeration on the journalists' part on the comments of the Austrian coaches, ...the Austrian coaches actually apologized to me," Vonn added. Why was this exaggerated though? Truthfully, because it was an extreme comment that the journalists' knew would start debate and controversy sells.

Even though there have been great leaps in equal rights, this shows that there is still a stigma surrounding women athletes compared to male athletes. But, in this rise of feminine power - I'm not surprised this statement was taken and blasted through the media.

Twin Cities station, WCCO interviewed U of M Sports Scientist, Nicole LaVoi on this topic. LaVoi said when it comes to female athletes, many people talk about how they look rather than what they actually do. "The critique wasn't, 'Oh, she looks muscular and fit and ready to do her best.' It was, 'Oh, she looks a little heavier.'" LaVoi said it becomes an issue when you consider how many times you hear the same types of comments directed at male athletes. You don't often hear people saying of Bode Miller, "He's looking a little heavy this year, maybe that will help him go faster," said LaVoi.

I think this issue could have been avoided if the Austrian coaches had been media trained better. Any publicist or rep would know what words or comments should be avoided. However, in the end I think the coaches did a good job apologizing to Vonn for their comments.

Despite skiing with a bruised left lower arm Vonn hurt in a crash during last month's giant slalom race in Lienz, Austria, Vonn won two downhills and a Super-G at the beginning of December. That raised her total to 28 victories, putting her at No. 2 on the all-time list of American skiers, three titles behind Bode Miller. I'm glad to see that this is not affecting her ability or attitude.