Lynn, who are these women who are assuming such a thing? I’ve never come across them in the IM field. I don’t think “women” as a gender lack initiative any more than men do. And I don’t think that “women” as a gender assume that the opportunities are not there!

I’ll repeat here what I said at Reba’s place:

“I really do wish that more women would take the initiative and find out for themselves that the opportunities are there, instead of assuming that they are not.

Men tend to be proactive in business. Being proactive works for women too. If you want to accomplish something… just do it! Right?”

Thanks for continuing the discussion here. I have my reasons for taking an interest in the “debate” and enjoyed reading your thoughts.

I haven’t really been studying the topic so it’s great to hear from you after having spent time really looking into it.

I totally agree that women seem to think it’s too ‘boastful’ if they promote themselves and it almost seems like we wait for other people to do it for us.

Thanks Leanne for adding your name , I’ll fix that in my line.

@Chris, of course there are cliques but they can just as easily consist of women. Again, I say move on. Show ‘em what you’re made of!

Thanks for the link Angela (I’m the one with no name )

But I also agree that it’s up to women to promote themselves more. I’ve done a lot of research on gender differences, and in the workplace, women can definitely take some cues from their male counterparts.

Women are really good at promoting each other, but we need to start promoting ourselves and not feeling like we are being “boastful.” We need to stand up and take credit where credit is due. We need to share our ideas publicly and forcefully (think blogs, books, etc.)

I’m happy to say that in all my years in Internet Marketing I was only disrespected/discriminated against once. And it was by a client, not a colleague.

I’ve worked with many talented women in this industry and look forward to seeing more of us taking leadership positions. But to your point, it’s up to women to go after those positions.

I also agree with Andrea that we need more conversations betwteen men and women. The most successful engagements I’ve worked on have almost always involved a team of both men and women.

I’m at this moment reading a new book that you might find interesting: “Leadership and the Sexes” by Michael Gurian and Barbara Annis.

One thing that will continue to help the situation is if women and men, like this one you and Chris for example continue to mull it over – in co-ed conversations.

The bashing was just short of a public stoning

Was it gender related? Maybe not… but this successful woman had contributed her time, knowledge, and advise for quite some time (for free) and it certainly seemed a tad unfair to beat someone up for not being a “free resource” anymore, especially when StomperNet paid faculty (all Men) often promote their own products without retribution.

Maybe it’s the clique that Dr. Kangaroo refers to…

If you are subscribed to more than one list it easy to spot who’s in the clique… They only promote each other’s products, and it must be a requirement to do at least one mailing per product. Kern recently sent out one promotion email saying “I haven’t looked at this, but it probably good” sounds to me like he was “phoning one in”, just to fulfill his obligation

Is the clique a “good ol’ boys” club…?

I would guess yes… have you seen the pictures they publish from their trips to LasVegas… I have a feeling any women there are not their peers…

just my opinion