Re: Scorned Feminists

[John Hedtke <jhedtke -at- OZ -dot- NET>]

Marilynne Smith <mrsmith -at- cts -dot- com> wrote:

>Tim Alton says:
>Their contributions to the industry will eventually change attitudes and pay
>scales, and perhaps, in time, the language. Unknown and unrecorded, their
>accumulation of merit is, even now, altering the face of the business world.
>==============================
>My reply

>I have a rule of thumb when looking for work:  If the writers are all
>female, look elsewhere.  In my experience, an all female writing group
>indicates lower wages, lower status, and all sorts of negative things.  I
>would also steer *far* away from an all female group where a male is the
>manager.

>I may miss a few good jobs with this, but I find my rights are better
>protected when the manager (male or female) is looking to build a good
>department with good writers.  The result of that type of search is usually
>a mix of male and female writers.

>Marilynne
>mrsmith -at- cts -dot- com
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Marilynne Smith
>mrsmith -at- cts -dot- com
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interesting rule, Marilynne.  I can definitely see where you would
have this opinion.  I'd like to provide a counter-example.

As it happens, I was the manager of Technical Publications for a
department I built from scratch.  I had 17 writers directly reporting
to me (24 total counting some subordinate managers), almost all of
whom were women (when I quit, there were 4 men in the group).
Salaries averaged around $40,000 plus equal stock options all around
-- a strongly competitive wage in Seattle for 5yrs experience at the
time.  I had a 0% turnover for 2 years -- not bad for a high-tech
company, eh?  :)

Yours Truly,

John Hedtke