“... and Women.”
When discussing civil rights and affirmative action people often refer to “minorities and women.” But the corporate world taught me an important lesson: “…and women” is usually code for white women.
Throughout my career I not only monitored the hiring practices of the companies I worked for but also those of companies where I had friends and contacts. The one consistency I found was this: Not only did white women count as “minorities,” but they also counted as “white” and usually got more opportunities as a result.
Over the years, I’ve worked at companies ranging from 5 to 5,000 people. I’ve dealt with mom ‘n’ pop clients and global conglomerates. And in terms of diversity, women were commonplace at every level: CEO. President. Vice-president. Secretaries. Managers. Account directors. Supervisors. Clients. Media Planners. Brand managers… However, they were always white. Minus my time at a couple of Black-owned companies, I only worked with one Black female VP in 12 years; my remaining black female colleagues were mainly support staffers.
But this was never a concern to any of my white female coworkers or bosses. They’d regularly rail against the infamous “glass ceiling” and “old boys clubs” while sanctimoniously invoking “civil rights” and “women’s issues.” But unless it had to do with Oprah Winfrey, Halle Berry, or their favorite soul singer, Black women were never part of their discussion. In their world “women” only had white skin.
That Time of the Month…
One prime example of this came while I was at BBDO Chicago when we pitched the Tampax account. As I remember it, the account was an estimated $10-$20 million in billings, possibly more. The client wanted to do a national campaign—some real out-the-box work targeting younger women. Once we got the call, we went to work—at least some of us did.
“Ladies only, no men allowed” was the agency decree. It was estrogen at every position: Female account execs. Female creatives. Female producers. Female media execs and researchers. They even brought in extra female freelance talent. Our bosses said they wanted to “do it right,” “get the proper insights” and “respect the consumer”… Whatever.
Regardless, the guys understood. We didn’t like it, but we understood. People are different, so be it. However one guy didn’t get it and complained—out loud. In front of everyone. His argument was that the male creatives were pros, too and were paid to sell products we don’t necessarily use. He thought it was a great opportunity to do some cool work for a notoriously boring category and he was being denied simply because he was a man. He was promptly told, out loud in front of everyone to shut up, and get over it.
Oddly (though not surprising), save for one black woman, every woman involved was white. Apparently Black, Hispanic, and Asian women don’t have feminine hygiene concerns and if they do, white women are more than woman enough to speak for them, too. (Besides, who wants hygiene advice from women who don’t even shave their armpits?)
Note: The 1964 Civil Rights Act banned discrimination “against persons without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin…” Many southerners promptly became republicans in protest, and have been ever since. In fact, upon signing the Civil Rights Act LBJ told associates, “I am afraid we have lost The South for a hundred years.”
So while minority women were already covered under the act, in 1967 President Johnson, hoping to win back anti-Civil Rights voters, amended the act via Executive Orders 11375 and 11246 to, in effect, classify white women as a minority group. LBJ intentionally created a legal loophole for subverting equality for minorities of color. Consequently, the one group that has most benefited from Affirmative Action initiatives and EEOC requirements across the board has been Caucasian women along with European whites.
Combine that with centuries of euro-centric ideals of beauty, a feminist movement rooted in racism and selective memory, plus some good old fashion greed and arrogance at various levels and you get “…and women.”
Throughout my career I not only monitored the hiring practices of the companies I worked for but also those of companies where I had friends and contacts. The one consistency I found was this: Not only did white women count as “minorities,” but they also counted as “white” and usually got more opportunities as a result.
Over the years, I’ve worked at companies ranging from 5 to 5,000 people. I’ve dealt with mom ‘n’ pop clients and global conglomerates. And in terms of diversity, women were commonplace at every level: CEO. President. Vice-president. Secretaries. Managers. Account directors. Supervisors. Clients. Media Planners. Brand managers… However, they were always white. Minus my time at a couple of Black-owned companies, I only worked with one Black female VP in 12 years; my remaining black female colleagues were mainly support staffers.
That Time of the Month…
One prime example of this came while I was at BBDO Chicago when we pitched the Tampax account. As I remember it, the account was an estimated $10-$20 million in billings, possibly more. The client wanted to do a national campaign—some real out-the-box work targeting younger women. Once we got the call, we went to work—at least some of us did.
“Ladies only, no men allowed” was the agency decree. It was estrogen at every position: Female account execs. Female creatives. Female producers. Female media execs and researchers. They even brought in extra female freelance talent. Our bosses said they wanted to “do it right,” “get the proper insights” and “respect the consumer”… Whatever.
Regardless, the guys understood. We didn’t like it, but we understood. People are different, so be it. However one guy didn’t get it and complained—out loud. In front of everyone. His argument was that the male creatives were pros, too and were paid to sell products we don’t necessarily use. He thought it was a great opportunity to do some cool work for a notoriously boring category and he was being denied simply because he was a man. He was promptly told, out loud in front of everyone to shut up, and get over it.
Oddly (though not surprising), save for one black woman, every woman involved was white. Apparently Black, Hispanic, and Asian women don’t have feminine hygiene concerns and if they do, white women are more than woman enough to speak for them, too. (Besides, who wants hygiene advice from women who don’t even shave their armpits?)
Note: The 1964 Civil Rights Act banned discrimination “against persons without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin…” Many southerners promptly became republicans in protest, and have been ever since. In fact, upon signing the Civil Rights Act LBJ told associates, “I am afraid we have lost The South for a hundred years.”
So while minority women were already covered under the act, in 1967 President Johnson, hoping to win back anti-Civil Rights voters, amended the act via Executive Orders 11375 and 11246 to, in effect, classify white women as a minority group. LBJ intentionally created a legal loophole for subverting equality for minorities of color. Consequently, the one group that has most benefited from Affirmative Action initiatives and EEOC requirements across the board has been Caucasian women along with European whites.
Combine that with centuries of euro-centric ideals of beauty, a feminist movement rooted in racism and selective memory, plus some good old fashion greed and arrogance at various levels and you get “…and women.”
