Women in the workplace

It is safe to say my internship at Shine Communications is going swimmingly, with nothing in-particularly interesting to report. This is great news, but it’s also not-so-great when you have a blog to write so you can discuss issues or significant events during your internship. So I decided to write about an issue I came across in my internship that involves PR, but also goes above and beyond. This issue is the underestimation of attractive women in a position of power.  

I recently had the pleasure of accompanying my supervisor to a meeting with the client Archae-aus. After the meeting, Archae-aus wanted our advice on a new business adventure they might be stepping into - buying advertising space on the Business News website. So, we met with the lovely Jessica Taylor, corporate account manager at WA Business News and I sat back to absorb what she was about to pitch. Ten minutes into her spiel, there wasn’t much absorbing going on. Her sparkling yet fierce green eyes, her perfectly flawless skin (but seriously how did she get her skin so spotless!) and her two deeply even dimples were all too distracting. The innovative, factual, and professional pitch she was trying to get across just went up and over my head because I was too busy in awe over how stunning she was. And lets not get started on her fashion-forward attire and cute-as shoes!

So when she left, it was time to discuss what she had just proposed. Digging deep, I puffed up my chest and began to come up with something constructive - that was until my supervisor blurted out, “I couldn’t get over how nice her skin was!” And before I knew it I was responding with, “Oh my god her eyes were so beautiful and green!” We both had a giggle and confessed that we were both too much in awe over her beauty to really take in what she was saying, or even take her seriously. After our guilty discussion about her beauty and how it was a shame because what she was saying sounded quite professional and succinct, it got me thinking – this must happen to her all the time.

Smart, good-looking women in a place of power, who have to attend meetings and make face-to-face decisions, must deal with this problem all the time. It doesn’t matter how many hours they put into a client brief, or how many big, exuberant words they use to pitch it, people (sadly) must take one look at them and either not take them seriously, or not focus on what they are saying at all – oops! Probably the second meeting would have gone a little better, we could have prepared ourselves to listen with our ears not our eyes, but this shouldn’t be the case.

It is a shame, but what can anybody do about this problem? We’re not being sexist and we’re not undermining her because we all know her capabilities. Is it just human nature to admire someone who is aesthetically pleasing?

Think about it, what are your first thoughts when you start talking to an attractive woman or male? Straight away, did you take them seriously?