By Jocelyn McKay (Contributor) – Email
Date Posted: October 7, 2011
Print Edition: October 5, 2011
Women today are much more integrated into the workforce than in the recent past. A Statistics Canada survey showed that the employment rate for women was at 59.3 per cent in 2009 compared to 41.9 per cent in 1976. It has become more common to have female employees, and even female bosses. Women have also begun to work at jobs which used to be considered typically ‘male’ jobs such as construction. As women begin to infiltrate the workforce, however, society asks the question: what is the role of females in the workplace?
Throughout history women have been and still are associated with sex. There can be no denial that women have, for generations, been the object of sexual scrutiny, stereotypes, and the disturbing male ‘gaze’. Poets like John Wilmont use women to describe men’s abilities (“The Imperfect Enjoyment”), advertisements use women’s body parts to showcase their products (Axe, Olay body wash), and even today’s major blockbusters hire female roles based on everything but their acting abilities (seriously Bay, a Victoria’s Secret Model?). Most of us are aware of the way women’s sexuality is sought after and manipulated by society. How, then, can women compete with men in the workplace when they are followed by a cloud of labels and stereotypes of sexuality and femininity? Or can women use their sexuality as ammunition in the fight for advancement?
Accepting the fact that women are more commonly associated with sex than men, Catherine Hakim, sociologist and author of “Honey Money: The Power of Erotic Capital”, urges women to utilize what she calls their “erotic capital” to advance their career. Hakim defines erotic capital as “a nebulous but crucial combination of beauty, sex appeal, skills of self-presentation and social skills – a combination of physical and social attractiveness which makes some men and women agreeable company and colleagues, attractive to all members of their society and especially to the opposite sex.”
Instead of trying to change the way society views women, Hakim suggests to use this view to one’s advantage. An extract from her book tells the fictitious but representative story of Anna, who loses her job, gives herself a complete make-over, and is handed an even better job by the ‘approving’ society. This tale, which is really the book’s premise, challenges how we view feminism and the women’s movement. Instead of continuously battling to be treated as men’s equals, why can’t women just use their sexuality to gain, if not control of, then at least the attention of, and ultimately, a pay-raise from their male superiors?
Having more women in the workplace also seems to raise a call for a definition of accepted female business behaviour. To answer this call, and to aid women in the workforce, Jolienne Moore and Lynn Cris write “Etiquette for the Career Woman”. In it Moore and Lynn offer advice on how to advance in the workplace through professional etiquette. One must ask, however, why this book’s title specifies the “career woman” and not the “career man.” Is there a difference between women’s career etiquette and men’s?
As defined by the Oxford dictionary, etiquette is “the customary code of polite behaviour in society or among members of a particular profession or group”. If this is the definition also used by Moore and Lynn, then why are women singled out as the ‘members of a particular profession’ who need schooling in the skill of etiquette? Is it because they are only recently becoming more common in the workplace? Personally, if someone attempted to educate me in female-oriented etiquette for the workplace, I would take offence. Are my male co-workers also receiving advice, and perhaps more boldly “education” on workplace etiquette, and if so, why are they receiving a “male” specific version?
Apart from the literal definition, what does the word etiquette connote? Etiquette suggests to me the manners women display, usually in response to male authorities such as father, husband, or male boss. The word is old fashioned and brings to mind images of afternoon tea served in delicate china cups by housebound women, complete with extended pinkies, polite conversation and of properly-folded napkins. The term etiquette, and all that it implies, should be left in the past and replaced with professionalism.
The term “professionalism” implies a gender-neutral code of behaviour specific to the workplace. Instead of being connected to a power imbalance between the genders and emphasizing manners, professionalism refers to “correct” and “socially accepted” behaviour, such as how one would behave towards their boss. A book promoting professional behaviour in the workplace and equality between both male and female employees might instead be titled “Professionalism for the Career Person.”
Even accepting that Moore and Lynn are nobly attempting to create better mannered, and consequently more apt career women, is there a place for etiquette in today’s workplace? Hakim’s character Anna is fired despite her certificates, experience, and qualifications. It is only when she undergoes an aesthetic overhaul and submits to the workplace’s sexist need for stereotypical attractive and submissive female employees that she is offered a job that, importantly, is better paid and more prestigious than her earlier one.
Perhaps today’s career woman should worry less about educational qualifications such as M.B.As and more about their etiquette, appearance, and erotic capital. If today’s literature is to be believed, professionalism is unnecessary. Advice for ambitious career women today: quit labouring at your post-education and invest in sexy pumps, manicures and gym packages.
