Would the world be a different place if women were in charge, not men? That’s the question Dee Dee Myers has posed in her book Why Women Should Rule the World.
As the keynote speaker for KeyBank’s annual Key4Women forum, Myers explained her ideas to a capacity audience at the Hall of Springs in Saratoga Spa State Park on Tuesday, June 10.
Myers entered the public spotlight as the White House Press Secretary during the Clinton administration. Not only was she considered young for the position, she was the first woman. As she explained to the predominantly female audience, that job put her in a position to experience firsthand the way gender shapes the world.
For starters, though Myers was given the title of press secretary, it was chiefly conferred to ease pressure on Clinton to appoint women and minorities to high posts in his administration.
`They gave me the title of press secretary and a lot of the responsibility of press secretary, but with a smaller office, less salary and less authority,` said Myers.
According to Myers, the fact women are often given responsibility without the appropriate authority sets many up for failure. Because she wasn’t given all the facts a press secretary should have, Myers said she was unable to avoid some pitfalls when dealing with a voracious press corps.
After leaving the White House and serving as a consultant at the hit NBC drama, `The West Wing,` Myers ruminated on her experiences in politics — undeniably a male-dominated world.
The result of more than a year of research was `Why Women Should Rule the World.`
Her message is not as black and white as the title might insinuate ` she described the heading as `a little bit tongue in cheek.`
`I don’t argue that women should replace men, just that they should rule alongside them,` said Myers.
`Women bring a different life experience into the room and lend a new perspective,` she said.
They are also wired to think differently than men, though Myers warns against placing too much importance on biological matters.
So why don’t women already rule?
A large part of the problem is that even when women are in positions of influence, they are often ignored.
`I think there is still a double standard in that women’s accomplishments are judged as less significant than men’s,` said Myers.
She referred to orchestras, which were almost exclusively male until blind auditions (where applicants play from behind a screen) were lobbied for. The number of female musicians in orchestras that changed their auditioning process jumped significantly.
`We listen with our eyes as well as our ears,` said Myers, making mention of Hillary Clinton’s recent run for the Democratic nomination. `You have to pay enough attention to your appearance to take it off the table.`
Though such external biases play a major role in holding women back, there are also internal factors at work.
`We don’t give ourselves enough credit,` she said.
She talked about recent findings that women are seven times less likely to ask for more money at their first job interview, which can add to up to more than $1 million in earnings over the course of a career.
`You have to take credit for your own accomplishments,` said Myers. `That’s how you take the next step.
`We need to get away from accepting the male norm as the way things must be done. Men will always be better at being men than women. Women have to attach more value to the qualities they bring to the table.`
Many audience members were eager to hear Myer’s thoughts on the Clinton campaign, which was suspended Saturday, June 7. Although she noted the role of gender in the race, Myers felt that Clinton’s primary failings were strategic. She ran a campaign based on experience in a year when change was the hot topic. Plus, Clinton expected to have the nomination wrapped up after Super Tuesday.
`They woke up on Wednesday and didn’t have a strategy,` said Myers. She also said she didn’t expect Barack Obama to offer Clinton the vice presidential slot, saying he shouldn’t rely on bringing her onto the ticket to win over her supporters.
`To make a really calculated choice would send the wrong message to the country,` she said.
The event brought in $10,000 in registration fees, which KeyBank donated to the Saratoga Hospital to support their women’s health programs. KeyBank also extended an oath to lend $2 billion to women-owned businesses in the Capital District in the next three years on top of $1 billion they have already loaned.
One of the businesswomen in the audience was Nicole Casey, a human resources administrator who said she was very impressed with Myers’ speech.
`It was very inspiring for me as a woman,` she said. `I think we have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. Events like this help us face those challenges.“