Men and Women of the Corporation by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Author:Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2011-03-10T16:00:00+00:00

The “Mean and Bossy Woman Boss” Stereotype

The other issue around women as organizational leaders also turns out to be a power issue. Perhaps the most blatant picture of the negative American stereotype of a woman boss appeared on the cover of MBA magazine in March 1972. MBA, distributed to business school students and faculty, devoted this issue, as its blurb indicated, to “Women in Business!” Shown on the cover is a Roy Lichtenstein-style comic-cartoon head of a sultry blond woman with blue eyes, bright red lips, and a low-cut, cleavage-revealing dress. Head thrown back snottily, she is saying, “You’re fired!” 48

And that’s what women bosses supposedly do with their authority. No wonder no one wants one.

Abuse of power is only the first in a long list of negative characteristics attributed to women managers over the last few decades by those who don’t want them. One survey of 521 young working women just before World War II uncovered so much hostility toward women bosses that even the author, Donald Laird (who thought women belonged behind a typewriter), had to conclude that there was overreaction.49 Of the women workers, 99.81 percent said they preferred a male boss for reasons such as the following:1. Women bosses are too jealous. Their positions go to their heads. They boss for the mere sake of bossing, to remind you they are in charge.

2. Women bosses take things too personally. They are not businesslike.

3. Women bosses are overly concerned with efficiency and routine details. They are slaves to the system. They bother about small, petty things.

4. Women bosses supervise too closely. They delegate only superficially.

5. Women bosses find more fault. They are too critical.

6. Women bosses scream to impress people with their importance.

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