The week in the patriarchy
The glass cliff – the phenomenon that women are more likely to be promoted when an organization is in crisis – is claiming its latest victim
Sat 30 Sep 2023, 2pm BST
Does Linda Yaccarino already regret working with Elon Musk?
This time last year, Linda Yaccarino was very popular. She had a prestigious job as head of advertising sales at NBCUniversal and was considered one of the best in the industry when it came to building relationships between brands and agencies. Because of her smooth but no-nonsense negotiating style, she was known in advertising circles as the “Velvet Hammer.” She was successful and respected.
Then Elon Musk came knocking with an offer for the CEO job. Yaccarino may have longed for a CEO job, but it was clear from the start that Musk would never give her the kind of control a CEO typically has. It seemed pretty obvious that Musk, who was forced to step down from the CEO position after a poll asked whether he should resign and a 57.5 percent majority voted in favor, actually has no one at the helm wanted. Rather, he wanted a doll.
In short, Yaccarino was always doomed to fail, the latest victim of a phenomenon called the “glass cliff,” in which women are more likely to be promoted to top positions when a company is in crisis and their chances of making the job a success are slim minimal. Other recent victims of the Glass Cliff phenomenon include former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao, and former British Prime Minister Theresa May.
Yaccarino is clearly not delusional. One can imagine that she knew the job wouldn’t be easy. But I’m not sure she expected how humiliating the role would be. Maybe deep down she hoped that Musk would actually give her the leadership of dumpster fire, “bizarre,” “a disastrous coming out party,” “wild,” and “combative.” Slate called her X the “Chief Embarrassment Officer” after the interview, and that’s basically what she is.
If you would like to see the entire interview, you can find it here. The crux of the matter, however, is that Yaccarino appears to have no idea what’s going on at the company she supposedly runs. For example, she didn’t seem to know much about Musk’s plans to charge every user of X a subscription fee. When asked about anti-Semitism about X, she answered vaguely: “Everyone deserves to express their opinion.” And she refused to take questions from the audience. All in all, she didn’t seem like someone who was even nominally in charge.
On the same day Yaccarino took to the stage, the Financial Times published a less-than-rosy profile of the CEO. (The main photo was a portrait of Yaccarino in a crucifixion pose, which tells you everything you need to know.) At one point they quote a source saying that Yaccarino became a puppet in Musk’s regime for taking on the role. “The job isn’t about being CEO,” the source said. “You won’t be able to control Elon, you have to take the hits and channel him. When he says the sky is bright pink, you have to say you are excited that the sky is pink.”
Even saying the sky is pink until you believe it yourself won’t save you from Musk. He has a reputation for throwing even his most ardent sycophants to the wolves. As Lou Paskalis, a longtime Yaccarino confidant, told the Financial Times, Musk doesn’t seem to want to hand over the reins to Yaccarino at all. “Since he was hired, it seems to me that most of his actions consciously or unconsciously sabotage her success,” he says. Everyone keep your distance: the glass cliff claims its latest victim.
‘Feminist approach’ to fighting cancer could save 800,000 women’s lives a year
A major study examining women and cancer in 185 countries found that gender inequality has a “significant negative impact” on how women experience cancer prevention and treatment – leading to unnecessary deaths. “The influence of a patriarchal society on women’s experiences with cancer has remained largely unrecognized,” said Dr. Ophira Ginsburg, senior clinical research advisor at the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Global Health. “Globally, women’s health is often focused on reproductive and maternal health, consistent with narrow anti-feminist definitions of women’s value and role in society, while cancer remains grossly underrepresented.”
New Zealanders will choose between two men named “Chris” for prime minister
“The last time New Zealanders voted in a general election, they chose between two women who described themselves as feminists,” writes the New York Times. “Three years later, as a sign of how strongly the pendulum has swung, they will choose between two men named Chris.” In politics, insults against women are becoming more common, and women’s issues have all but disappeared from election campaigns.
A Texas lawyer is asking abortion funds for details on every procedure since 2021
The lawyer behind Texas’ extreme six-week abortion ban is now demanding information about the identity of anyone (other than the patient herself) who may have contributed to an abortion in the last two years. Not dystopian at all!
Influencers sell self-adhesive belly buttons
They are apparently a way to make your legs look longer without surgery. There is a market for everything.
Olivia Rodrigo is afraid of birds
“Birds are so alien to us – there isn’t a single body part that resembles ours,” the pop star recently told Rolling Stone. “Everyone’s scared of aliens and stuff,” she continued. “You wonder, ‘What will the aliens look like?’ I say, ‘We have birds on our planet and we’re not afraid of them.’ We’re fine!’” Something to consider.
GB News is a misogynistic cesspool
“The lesson of the last few years is that what is fringe today – like the insult ‘Cucked Little Incel,’ a phrase Laurence Fox uses on air… will be normalized tomorrow, and that doesn’t stop at the objectification of women “, writes Gaby Hinsliff on GB News’ latest scandal.
The French Equality Agency states that 90% of online pornography abuses women
The report said that in millions of videos, “women caricatured with the worst sexist and racist stereotypes are humiliated, objectified, dehumanized, attacked, tortured and subjected to treatment that is contrary to both human dignity and French law “. A significant portion of the content amounted to torture.
The week in the Pawtriarchy
(Do alligators have paws? For this pun, let’s just say they have paws.) Meet Wally: an emotional support alligator who lives in Philadelphia. I don’t know if alligators normally like to play baseball, but his owner apparently thought he would like to watch a game because they were trying to enter the Philadelphia Phillies stadium for a home game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Strangely, they weren’t allowed in. An investigator is investigating the situation.
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