Hey, BNET. I’d rather you didn’t call me a whore

Peggy Olson is no relation.. despite my love of Fedoras.

Hmm, another $37 million lawsuit?
Hey, from an observers point of view:
I think you ‘lowered the belt’ with your ‘skirt’ comment and you should have expected a reply of the same standard.
Talk dignified, expect dignity.
However, congratulations on your job.

Well said, Karalee.
Six “weird ways” to get a job, five men and only one pejorative used in the entire article. The way it comes across as egregiously sexist *must* be a coincidence…
I suspect the piece was dashed off in a hurry to hit the month’s linkbait target, but nonetheless, it’s rather off.
“I’m putting it a bit strongly there” admits Jim, probably before rushing off to beat some women, steal from his grandmother and shoot up smack*.
Oh, wait. I shouldn’t have said that, because making offensive, unfounded statements about people in public is wrong, and, I hear, legally actionable….

*this is not true, as far as I’m aware.

To “whore yourself out” has become a colloquial saying associated with selling out or overselling yourself, particularly on the net (example), so why I can understand Jim’s intended context. However if he comes back with a defence along these lines, tell him he should bloody know better than to use the saying in conjunction with your campaign- it’s just begging for trouble and it oversteps the mark right back into sexist territory.

I’m sorry you had to go through this attack Karalee. I don’t agree with arguing against sexism, racism, homophobia etc by saying times have changed and what was acceptable before is not acceptable now. It should never have been acceptable in the first place. I don’t think anyone is open to equality unless they believe this.

You mean that advertising/marketing *isn’t* populated solely by magical beings of the purest love and beauty?
I’m crushed. Just crushed.

1000 word over-reaction. Move on. You got a mention in Bnet (*whatever that is) so it’s probably good for your “personal brand”

Folks, all you are doing is taking a common expression out of context.
If I said every ‘man and his dog’ are taking old, well known expressions like this out of context, will I offend the ladies who misinterpret as saying every Male & Female, when that was not my intention?
Please, I beg you . . . we are all for equality, but please don’t make a mountain out of a molehill, otherwise I’m gonna have to go further out past the black stump.

I look on the mainstream (or should it be lemming?) advertising and public relations industries with much the same attitude as that shown by Denton’s TV comedy :30 Seconds. Here’s another great example of the curious and often trivial meta-discussions these industries generate that :30 Seconds shone a light on.

Regardless of circumstance, it’s my belief that individuals set the tone at which they are referred to and respected by the level of respect they show themselves.

I didn’t know that “Skirt” was you till now – That was a great way to get a job!!

Really, Well done!

I guess the writer made an attack, as he actually thought likewise but you (Karalee) just didn’t fit his schema of where good ideas “should” come from. Who knows what that was – likely he’s just afraid of women with good ideas.

Funny the form some compliments take…

And all these comments about what’s trivial and what’s not – would these people really take the time to comment about trivial things ? No, they wouldn’t bother – the actual need of announce trivialities here and there, is a sign that person found something confronting enough to have to do something about it.

The plan of having to go out of your way to tell people how meaningless something is backfires as you do it.

Has nothing changed in fifty years. Jeez!
However when I think of a senior skirt,
it is not the same skirt that a whore would wear.
Please don’t use the word whore unthinkingly.

Karalee, I hear ya sista, and I think you had every right to be offended by the Bnet article. It definitely seems to have painted you with a scarlet brush and one can’t dismiss the fact that the author acknowledged that he knew he was crossing a line. Yet another topic where Mumbrella readers will tell you that you are “over-reacting, get over it, don’t be so sensitive” but don’t let the bastards get you down!

Well said, while use of the phrase ‘whoring out’ has become more common and colloquial, to put it into this context, where five men are revered and Karalee is vilified, then there is no simple mistake.

Jim Edwards knew that there was something wrong, he wouldn’t have included his pre-post disclaimer that he was putting it out a little strongly.

Justify it all you want, you’re still justifying the fact that it’s okay to speak about women like this in a professional setting.

These kinds of issues would be simple to overcome if everyone just stuck to this handy guide regarding use of language in respect to gender.

a man is an assertive leader = a woman is a bitch
a man is offended = a woman is emotional and oversensitive
a man is a go getter = a woman is pushy
a man is confident = a woman is arrogant
a man is using his ingenuity to get a job = a woman is whoring herself out

See how this works? Simple. Sexist? Sure, but simple and how it’s always been….

Hi Karalee,

As editorial director for BNET Australia, I wanted to let you know that I’ve passed on your feedback and link to your post to Jim Edwards in the US, one of our many blogger contributors for BNET. It’s still the weekend at HQ in the US, but the US editorial team has also been contacted and we’ll keep you posted on feedback.

Hey Brian,

That’s very gentlemanly of you. Bravo for coping it on the chin and managing this responsibly.

Just to let you all know, the US office managed to get in touch with Jim Edwards and he has responded with an apology. You can check it out here:

http://www.bnet.com/blog/adver.....ising/6571

Thanks, Tim, for bringing this to our attention.

Brian

Hi Brian,

Thanks for your response, and I appreciate you notifying Jim Edwards (I did also reach out to him). I look forward to the feedback.

~ And to everyone who has taken the time to comment here, tweet me, DM me, etc, thank you. It’s been an interesting experience, and one that has certainly made me think. Particularly Mandi’s comment – hadn’t thought of it that way.

p.s Surely comment of the day goes to Cathie. Gold.

Boooo to Brian and Jim for restoring my faith in journos/humanity with their responses. How am I supposed to go off on furious tangents now?
Jokes aside, very classy.

Hi Brian and Jim,

Thank you for your apology, retraction and taking responsibility for the original headline. It took a lot of guts to acknowledge the inappropriateness of the language, and I unreservedly accept your apology.

I’m certainly far from perfect, and hope that when I make a mistake (I’ve been known to, as my friends will tell you), I can also acknowledge it as maturely as you have.

At the end of the day, I can see the humour in this and probably didn’t articulate that well enough in my response. Having a laugh is so important in life, and in the spirit of this I’d like to send you a signed photo of one of my skirts as a peace offering – where should I send it? 😉

Many thanks,
Karalee

did this really require a public callout for an apology?

credit to the guy – he admitted the wording was incorrect and changed it. could this have been done without calling the guy out and getting your mates to accuse him of being out of touch? would an email direct have been enough?

now the guy is associated with victimising a woman regardless of whether he apologised or not. great work – now he looks like a right c*nt but at least you got your public apology and a bit of PR.

Great case study in just two blog posts and 20 comments. Wish it were always thus.

Nice work Karalee and Brian.

Hi Karalee, Thank you for the message and the offer of the signed photo. Would it be “skirting the issue” to suggest that you auction off said photo to your favourite charity? 🙂 Let me know at brian.haverty@cbsinteractive.com and we’ll see what we can do to help!

Brian

“Women, particularly in the workplace, don’t dress to impress men. They dress to impress themselves, with their own sexuality and confidence empowering them to succeed, rather than to engender male respect.”

Wow, well women really are that different – I know I dress up a lot more when people are going to see me, than when I’m at home watching Mad Men.

The headline was, at best, misguided. I’d like to think that the author would’ve used the same headline regardless of the sex of the subject. Although that might’ve been “pimping himself out”.

I can see how you’d take offence at the original post, but still can’t see why it needed a full post on Mumbrella? The only explanation I can think is that, as above, you couldn’t resist the chance to do a bit more personal brand building. There’s an expression for attention seekers that springs to mind, but I’ll avoid it for now!

I think a brief lead in to the article, along with some more insightful commentary about your experiences as “a skirt” might have been more interesting, and credible than what comes across as a bit of public whinging.

Maybe it’s an overreaction, but I’m pretty sure if someone made any linkage towards my actions and “whoring”, i’d be pretty offended.

And yes, I agree that it is another example of blatant sexism, but because it’s 2010, and things get said over and over to the point that they become a “common expression” and we’re all championing pushing the boundaries of self expression online I guess it’s okay to imply that someone has earned a position on her back rather than through her achievements at work.

Go team!

All advertising is whoring

@Aaanx – FINALLY someone speaks the truth!