overview of readings

In reading these chapters I came to focus on a point in chapter three that really stood out to me and my interests. I work in a store as the only female among eight male representatives. I’m the lowest on the ladder because I am the newest of all the team members but believe I get more respect from management then some of my co-workers.
I attribute this to Marie Wilson’s passage titled “Authority for All” (pg. 48) where she talks about how women should present themselves when dealing with male upper management in the work place. I do agree that we have to push ourselves twice as hard to be recognized, however I find it more comforting to know that our Vice President of Retail Sales is in fact a woman. Not only that, but we received a new Market Manager last month, also a woman. When I first started working for this company all of the management was of the male gender. I feel that my company has made the extra effort to extend their boundaries and even push for the success of their women employees but offering childcare compensation and tuition reimbursement as well as very flexible schedules.
The idea of the government take of power by women seemed to be Wilson’s focus for a good part of the book. I feel like that situation is based on her opinion and not fact. On page 36 Wilson touched on the subject of credentials. She listed two of Dole’s credentials and then quickly stated that she fell short to “George W. Bush, a man with far fewer credentials.” To me she seemed to be using it as an excuse for why Dole did not make the candidacy with the two credentials listed, and that Bush won with no credentials. I would have liked to see a more factual side of both candidates. The idea of women in high government job will come with time. I feel that in our class, maybe one of us is looking for government positions. I think we should start with some of the more common places of work and then work our way to the top. Things are not going to all fall into place with a woman president.
The part in chapter three I really took heart to was the passage of the WHEN organization. Page 51 she spoke of the Women Helping Empower Neighborhoods. This to me seemed like a great idea to get involved in and would be something I would be interested in trying to start around here. Not only would this be a women-ran organization but could extend it’s doors further to help take stress of women that are trying to run for the office. This organization when attached to a political party can extends to thousands of votes. If the WHEN organization is helping kids of single mom’s and dad’s by just providing some daycare or transportation they would bring in many votes for the candidate they were supporting as well. That group of ladies really hit the mark by promoting that kind of help.