Queen Bees Part II aka words count

For some time English has been evolving toward having nondiscriminatory grammar, structure, and form.

However, that doesn't mean we don't mentally assign gender to certain words and idioms.

Take "whiny"-- it's as pink as a ballet slipper. According to Merriam Webster, whiny is " a prolonged high-pitched cry usually expressive of distress or pain"

Whiny is exactly how radio talk show host Don Imus characterized Maureen Dowd’s recent column on the lack of women writing for the op-ed page of major newspapers.

During a chat with NBC Correspondent Andrea Mitchell, Imus tried to get her to comment. She tried to take the high road and explained to Mr.Imus why this is such a big issue right now. As Dowd explained in her column:

"The kerfuffle over female columnists started when Susan Estrich launched a crazed and nasty smear campaign against Michael Kinsley, the L.A. Times editorial page editor, trying to force him to run her humdrum syndicated column.

Given the appalling way she's handled herself, Susan - an acquaintance for many years - is the last person Michael, a friend of mine, should hire. But he should recruit some more talented women to write for him. So should The Times, The Washington Post - which also has only one female columnist - and anyone else who has an obvious gender gap on their op-ed pages."

The issue isn’t whether Imus liked Dowd’s column. The issue is the choice of words. What made it whiny?  Was it the fact that Dowd pointed out that very few women are represented on the op-ed page?

Or that she provided an explanation that had more to do with female personality traits than female talent?

Or, was it whiny because a woman was pointing out that there is a disparity between men and women who hold power positions in the media?

Mitchell didn't challenge Imus on his use of the word whiny. She's not alone. Listen to the language used to describe women in power.All too often it is gender-biased, painting a picture of a less than desirable leader.

It has become standard fare to dodge the real issues of gender discrimination by attacking women with verbal euphemisms that communicate women are not as capable leaders as men.

Heaven help the woman who believes in feminism. She’s a FemiNazi. And, a woman who does exert power is called a bitch, naggy, diva, goddess, glamazon, alpha woman, bossy, blonde, scattered, ditzy, screechy, or high-pitched. (This is not the entire list, it's actually much longer).

Who wants the head of the department to be run by a naggy, high-pitched diva that operates like an alpha woman in heat?

There was a time in the late 60s and 70s when women were quick to correct men when they behaved or spoke like a male chauvinist.

Women didn’t wait to have a man walk around the car to open a door, we did it ourselves.

Heaven help the guy who referred to the women in the office as “the girls” or tried to call us honey.

We spoke up. Changes were made.

It's no longer the best man for the job, it's the best candidate.

It's no longer a one-man show, its a solo show.

We were diligent in our desire to be treated as equals. Some would say we were obnoxious. But, it worked—sort of.  We changed some of the language. We got the jobs. Okay, we didn't’t get the pay. Thirty years later, women still earn 75 cents to every dollar earned by a man. And we should be raising a ruckus about that. We don't.

It’s been all quiet on the work front for too long. Women have lost their voice. If more women were hassling newspapers about the lack of female voices on the op-ed pages, there would be more women. No one seems to care, and when they do mention it, they’re whiny.

Women have no one but ourselves to blame. Instead of fighting the fight, we now simply walk away. Women’s solution to the inequality in male run companies is to leave corporate America.

According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, between 1997 and 2004, the estimated growth rate in the number of women-owned firms was nearly twice that of all firms (17% vs. 9%).

Language matters. We may have taken the man out of the mail carrier and police officer, but we haven't taken the sexism out of our every day language.

So the next time you hear a female executive being called a bitch, diva or glamazon, challenge it. Demand that she is described in the more gender neutral language we assign male executives we don’t like.

Call her a jerk.

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