We were all excited when a woman became the CEO of Yahoo! Apparently, she’s doing it wrong, though.
—-
Feminists, activists, and a whole host of other ‘ists’ on the internet are shaken up by this photo. The commentaries I’ve encountered use loads of feminist terms and ideas, but they all seem to take a decidedly un-feminist slant. While I’ve been trying to order my thoughts, I realized the disagreement I’m having with many others who saw these photos; I’m assuming that Marissa Mayer makes her own decisions. Others seem to be operating under the assumption that she was cajoled or pressured in some way. Here’s what I mean: Pepper Schwartz, a sociology professor at University of Washington, pretty much sums up the controversy in this CNN article, so I’ll let her speak for herself.
“I get it, and I get why she did it. But she has to take note of how pained a lot of women are about this fashion photo. Not just a few women felt hurt looking at the Mayer layout, wondering silently or out loud if acquiescing to this kind of shot means that for Mayer, and perhaps for other women, that “making it” and “having it all” needs to include being publicly admired for one’s allure. That’s a depressing thought for many talented women who are not beautiful or not sexy. They do not have that card to play and this layout could certainly make them wonder if selection for the top job requires being lovely.”
So this is the crux of the issue for the anti-photo crowd. “But she has to take note of how pained a lot of women are about this fashion photo.” Okay,no, she doesn’t. I think that it is too much to ask Marissa Mayer to live her life for every woman around the world. Yes, she is going to be seen as a role model, but how much does that remove her agency? Does she not still own her body and her life? Schwartz continues to undermine Mayer’s agency when she says, “… acquiescing to this kind of shot means that for Mayer…” Acquiescing? She’s the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, I doubt she acquiesces to much.
So, I’m reading Pepper Schwartz’s Op-Ed and “wondering silently or out loud” if she believes that women should be allowed to make their own choices. It seems to me that she doesn’t. To assume that a Vogue photographer, a man, could pressure her into a photo shoot is asinine. She’s powerful, confident, competent, and brilliant. Perhaps, she wanted a set of photos that people would find attractive. That’s such a universal feeling that I’m floored it is given such little credence. That is, unless humans have ceased to desire for others to find them attractive. If so, then sell all your Instagram/Facebook stock, because that ship is sinking.
Okay, so let’s round up these disparate parts: Marissa Mayer is beholden to every woman in the world when she makes life decisions. She “acquiesced” to a photo shoot that implies a woman must be admired for her physical beauty to “have it all”. Marissa Mayer (and presumably, the photographer) have told talented women who are not beautiful that they cannot achieve Marissa Mayer status in tech companies. That’s what this photo does. Now to what the photo does not do. The photo shoot does not imply that women do not have to sacrifice femininity and allure to be respected as business elites. The photo does not set an example for young women deciding between math team and cheerleading squad. It does not tell these young women that they can have both. Lastly, it does not reflect the choices and desires of Marissa Mayer; hell, she’s pretty much a victim here.
Also, apparently, the article is just blank pages, because no one seems to have anything to say about what Mayer had to say. Then again, we’ve already established that the CEO of Yahoo! has no say.
To me, it’s as if you are saying that women should not concern themselves with what another individual woman does, nor voice disagreement with her choice, because by disagreeing with what said woman does, denies said woman agency. Does that also mean that men should not concern themselves with what another man does because by disagreeing with his actions and what they believe are the repercussions of his actions mean that they are denying that man agency? Does this thought mentality apply to politics as well? Does disagreeing with President Obama and voicing that disagreement deny President Obama agency? And… Read more »
Hi Christian, I’m not too fond of your piece and I will share why. Women will always talk about the topic of women and what it means for all of us when other women make choices about how women in general, are presented to the world. Discussions such as these in no way “deny one’s agency”, even when group A doesn’t agree with what group B may do. You took a huge amount of liberty to draw that connection and I believe it be a rather destructive one. Disagreeing with what someone does or how they present themselves is a… Read more »
Detailed response. I appreciate you taking the time to read the entire piece and voicing your concerns. So allow me to respond. “Women will always talk about the topic of women and what it means for all of us when other women make choices about how women in general, are presented to the world.” There are two points I’d like to make about this sentence alone. 1) This reaffirms my position that Mayer is expected to live her life and present herself for the entirety of women. 2) The use of the passive voice is, by definition, removing women’s agency.… Read more »
It’s not just about her agency. There’s a lot of agency to go around. If she’s guilty of some sort of betrayal of other women, then there are a LOT of women guilty of betraying each other. All the women who buy Vogue, for example. All the women who work at the magazine. All the women in executive or editorial positions at the magazine. I haven’t seen the credits for the article. Do you know for sure if the photographer was a man and not a woman? If she was “acquiescing” to the demands of the magazine, it’s more specific… Read more »
Get over it people- Ms Mayer is a Marrissaist not a feminist…l
You don’t get to the top of the heap giving a damn about the rest of the world.
Can someone explain to me what is it that feminism stand’s for nowadays, because the messages , calls , articles & political opinions that are coming out of the main stream feminism is confusing , baffling & full of contradictions.
I don’t want to mansplain anything here ( it leads to accusations of misogyny.
No. It shows how desperate she is to keep yahoo afloat.
She ‘has it all’ because beauty in our society is part of ‘having it all’ If you don’t have beauty, then you can’t have it all. This woman is a Mother, CEO and very attractive. Yeah, you are damn right she has it all. If she wasn’t attractive then, no, she wouldn’t have it all. But she’d still have a hell of a lot more than anyone I know. Most of it she would have worked damn hard for, once again, way more than anyone I know. I know I will never ‘have it all’ so I’m just happy with… Read more »
Hi Christian – what matters the least in this whole story is what webbed “social activists” think about Mayer. Everything falls into place properly once this context is adopted.
“That’s a depressing thought for many talented women who are not beautiful or not sexy.” This line alone just sends me over the edge. Beautiful and sexy are both a) a decision and b) subjective. The idea that a woman who is a social ideal of these things should limit herself so other women don’t feel bad, versus the empowered idea that how beautiful you feel and how sexy you feel are up to you, is so victim-y. It stands on the notion that our value is contextual, limited or enhanced by others, versus inherent. We should be supporting one… Read more »
Well put. Here’s a little inside tip for you women. Women with a sense of self confidence,a sense of self worth, in all, a Woman comfortable in her own skin (a sense of style helps, of course) Will draw far more attention (the good respectful kind) from most men and I would presume many women, than anything Cosmo or the other mags like it are trying to sell you!
Well said Sadee.
No offense Bobbt, but they don’t beautiful young babes on the cover of Maxim because men care about our confidence and sense of worth.
I agree with you 1000%. That kind of thing drives me nuts. If someone offered me a Vogue spread (which would never happen) I would do ti because I wanted to, and I would have a ball, dressing up! Of course, I’d do it in tu-tus, and PVC and other things that I love, and I would not want to be picked apart about what it means and if I am being “me,” much less “a woman” properly. That said, I have plenty of bones to pick with Ms. Mayer, but they are about things like the blinding cluelessness with… Read more »
I would gladly do a Vogue spread as well. I’d wear my best socks, best sandals, and best fannypack, along with my favorite tuxedo-pattern T-shirt.
Well said. It’s too bad, but it’s probably human nature, that when a legitimate cause brings injustice to light, some people take their new victim status, and use it to justify their own failings, instead of focusing on using the development of new opportunities to prove their worth and find their own success. It’s the Marissa Mayers in this world that inspire the push towards the equality that the Pepper Schwartzes unwittingly thwart. I’m sure it sucks to be a conventionally unattractive woman; it sucks to be black in a white world, it sucks to be handicapped, it sucks to… Read more »
In the end, feminists as well as progressives tend to be their own worst enemies. There are never enough squares to fill and if they get filled they’re the wrong ones.
Bless. Is it okay to think that maybe she just wanted to be able to frame her very own Vogue cover and hang it in her living room? Even more than wanting other people to find her attractive, maybe she wanted the visual acknowledgment for herself. Which is not to denigrate the appeal of gloating — it’s got to be satisfying to look back on awkward high school years and then look at a gorgeous shot in Vogue to see, viscerally, how far you’ve come. I just am in favor of beautiful things in general, though. It’s hard for me… Read more »
High 5. It’s interesting because those feminists critical of her being there are often showing misogyny in denying her right to choose.