Wilson Chapter 1-5 and Intro Blog, Laura Ann

Closing the Leadership Gap Introduction

If women populate half of the country why don’t they populate half of the workforce? I have been wondering about this the past week especially after seeing the video we watched in class the other day. Society is so backwards that everyone always assumes men equal power. Anytime anyone is talking about a leader they always use “he” to describe the person if even he or SHE is unidentified or unknown. The examples that were given of top executives, corporate officers and board seat occupants that were women were really shocking and a true example of how backward our society really is.

Closing the Leadership Gap Chapter 1

In our society women are forced to live in a man’s world and play by the men’s rules. Being a woman significantly alters our authority and the way that we have to conduct ourselves in a business or political environment. We are paid less to do the same job that men do, and we probably put three times the effort and heart into the job. Women care more about the environment, home issues, education and even world peace because women are more able to deal with issues closer to home then abroad. It is hard to understand how America, the country that is supposed to be the most powerful country, can be so politically backwards. The examples that were used to describe the power that women hold abroad was crazy to believe because we always think that we are far more politically advanced then every other country.

Closing the Leadership Gap Chapter 2

It is bothering to think that so many people are ready for a women president and it still hasn’t happened. I think that there should be 2 or 3 women up there in each party representing us not 1 every couple of elections. If we really do represent half of the United States then we need to get up the courage and run. When they were talking about how women need to talk about their credentials it made me stop and think about the people who are running right now, have they told me anything about their previous jobs? Why do I support someone if I don’t know his or her history? When you go to a job interview they look at your references, why don’t we check the male’s credentials, but insist on checking the females? It was also interesting to see how many people find it acceptable for women to leave their jobs and stay at home with the children.

Closing the Leadership Gap Chapter 3

It is disturbing to know that no matter what a woman does she will continually be ridiculed for the way that she looks and their personal characteristics. We could wear turtlenecks and they would still think of something to say against us rather than point out our ideas or legislation. I liked how the authors put a turn on motherhood by pointing out how motherhood spurs leadership and also how she talked also about how nontraditional topics spur authority.

Closing the Leadership Gap Chapter 4
Ambition is an awesome quality to have but it is looked down upon when women are thought to be ambitious. If men are ambitious it is looked at with positive reactions. I liked that they used the mean girls movie to show how women can hold their own when it comes to outsiders, just like men can. The movie also showed how women tend to fight other women rather that help and support each other. If we would work together it would help the community and society progress a lot faster. I like how they pointed out that women want to be more prepared for events while men tend to wing it.

Closing Leadership Gap Chapter 5

This chapter tended to perturb me because it pointed out how people in America think about women (nurses, flight attendants, etc) and how they think about men (pilots, plumbers, CEO’s etc.) That is really annoying because of all of the accomplishments that women have made over the years. Although we are behind some of (okay most of ) the other countries in the world but I still think that we should be recognized as members of society.