There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers. ~ Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) The Three E's is taking a brief hiatus this week and will return next Tuesday to address this last topic in honor of Women's History Month. Until next time, Jeanne
President John F. Kennedy and personal secretary Evelyn Lincoln
In her book, Be the Ultimate Assistant, Bonnie Low-Kramen writes, "Here's a fast-paced profession which is highly demanding -- requiring intelligence, resourcefulness, discretion, initiative, computer skills, and last, but not least, consummate people skills. Oh yes, it's also helpful to be clairvoyant!" (p. 32)
White House Official Photo
Former First Lady of the United States Nancy Reagan
1921 - 2016
With the passing of former First Lady Nancy Davis Reagan last week, the nation's attention turned briefly to reflect on the role that America's First Ladies have played in building our country -- a position, I might add, that pays no salary. First Lady Pat Nixon once commented that, "Being first lady is the hardest unpaid job in the world." And President Obama brought up the subject a few years ago, mentioning that First Lady Michelle Obama does not get paid for all her work on behalf of the Executive Branch and the country, especially her work to eliminate childhood obesity and encourage Americans to live healthier lives, which in turn can reduce workplace absenteeism and healthcare costs.
Our struggle today is not to have a female Einstein get appointed as an assistant professor. It is for a woman schlemiel to get as quickly promoted as a male schlemiel. ~ Bella Abzug, 1977
"Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily this is not difficult," said Charlotte Whitton in Canada Month, 1963.
I agree with Charlotte Whitton's famous statement except for the part that it is not difficult! And to phrase the late, great Congresswoman Abzug's statement more delicately, ordinary women should be able to compete with ordinary men for the same jobs without having to outperform at Einstein's level. Women have always been and continue to be held to a different standard than men when vying for the same opportunities. That's not only a lack of equality, it's a lack of fairness.
The 2016 theme of the U.S. National Women's History Month is
Working to Form a More Perfect Union:
Honoring Women in Public Service and Government.
"...it's...a very unique American experience...It's such a great adventure...If the experiment in human living doesn't work in this country, in this age, it's not going to work anywhere."
~ Hillary Rodham, Student Commencement Speech,
Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, May 31,1969
“I would argue that right now we have rationed care throughout this country. There are literally millions of Americans who don’t have access to the same quality or quantity of healthcare as millions of others. I heard Dr. Koop say the other day that an uninsured person who enters a hospital with the same problem as an insured person is three times more likely to die than the insured person. And that’s a shocking statistic.”
~ First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Testimony to Congress
on the President’s Healthcare Reform Proposal,
September 28, 1993
"If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be
that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all."
~ First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton,
Remarks to the United Nations 4th World Conference on Women, Beijing, China
September 5, 1995
The echoes of women's voices throughout history -- or herstory, as some feminists would say with a smile -- include one that resonates today. That is the voice of Hillary Clinton, who has managed to wear more hats in service to her government and various communities than just about anyone in the nation's history -- woman or man. And now she is poised to become the first female Presidential nominee of a major political party. If she succeeds, it will only have taken 240 years for an American woman to accomplish this feat.
“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make
a difference in our lives.” ~ John F. Kennedy
As a follow up to last week’s entry about the important role assistants fill across all industries, here’s an alert for the new employee to the significance of observing -- or not observing -- Administrative Professionals Day.
Women and Salary Negotiation
The Feminine Negotiation Mystique
There’s a lot of buzz lately about the need for women to enter into salary negotiations when they receive job offers. This is due in part to Sheryl Sandberg’s modern bestselling manifesto, Lean In: Women, Work, And the Will To Lead, in which she describes nearly accepting Mark Zuckerberg’s first offer to join Facebook without negotiating salary and other terms. Ironically, it was at the urging of her husband and brother-in-law that she went on to “negotiate hard,” and the result was she received an “improved” offer, which she accepted.
Jeanne Nelson 