Bay Ridge Democrats to hold Fair Pay rally, Golden suggests they’re beating the dead horse

By on July 23, 2012  Politics
Jul 232012
 

State Senate candidate Andrew Gounardes speaks at a May press conference in support gender equality legislation. Source: Andrew Gounardes via Flickr

Tomorrow evening, July 24 at 6pm, the Bay Ridge Democrats political club will be marking the night of what would have been State Senator Marty Golden’s “career development” seminar for women with a rally for fair pay for women, right outside the Senator’s office, from 6pm to 8pm.

The now-canceled-seminar was widely criticized by both local and national commentators for language in the marketing brochures, indicating that it endorsed female career advancement through acting more stereotypically womanly rather than teaching professional manners required in a business setting. Continue reading »

Lady Class: More Reactions To Marty Golden’s thankfully-cancelled “Feminine Presence” Seminar

By on July 5, 2012  Politics
Jul 052012
 

The flyer for Marty Golden’s Ladyclass (photo: cityandstateny.com, used with permission)

The funniest thing you’ll read, from Victoria Bekiempis of the Village Voice:

“I, for one, cannot emphasize how necessary this is: as I was churning butter this morning and dipping the day’s candles, I came to realize that today’s young women are simply too spirited to succeed in the business world — they don’t pay enough deference to the rules of polite society rightfully established by their fathers, brothers, and clergymen.”

The most important thing you’ll read, from Jessica Wakeman of The Frisky (which also has the best photo you’ll see on the subject):

“I won’t disagree that professional comportment is a key skill in these economic times. Not just in these economic times even — of course it’s important to know proper manners in a business setting, such as proper handshaking. Unemployed folks in the State Senator’s district may never have learned these skills in high school or higher education like some of us did…

But professional comportant is different from feminine comportment.  Women should be able to choose how they display their femininity — or not display it — themselves. This event is teaching gendered skills — er, ‘skills’ — like how to ‘walk like a model.’ I’m not suggesting that women or men should slouch in job interviews or chew gum or any of those other mistakes people make; I am saying it’s sexist to suggest women learn how be more stereotypically womanly as a means of getting a job.” Continue reading »

Marty Golden Organizing Career-Development Seminar To Promote “Feminine Presence”

By on July 3, 2012  Featured story, Politics
Jul 032012
 

What I really wanted to put here was a picture of Marty Golden’s head Photoshopped onto the body of a dinosaur, but there’s only so much I can do on a lunch break at Kinko’s. (Photo: cityandstateny.com. Used with permission.)

I’m trying really, REALLY hard not to throw Marty Golden under the bus on this one. Please keep that in mind if words like “fossil” slip out of my keyboard.

On July 24, his office will be organizing “The Polished Professional,” a seminar intended to develop the presentation and polish for women seeking to advance their careers.

That’s the nice way of putting it. The other way is to call it out for being a “1950s-style etiquette class focusing on feminine charms rather than actual business acumen.”

Senator Golden’s website seems to have undergone a little revision since City & State’s Chris Bragg wrote about it this morning, now emphasizing that “walking with books on the head is outdated.”

Yes it is. Has been for several decades now.

But while Golden’s office can edit and re-edit their web site to their hearts’ content (Update: as soon as I published this story, I realized they took the event off the web entirely), they can’t take back those color glossy mailers they sent out to constituents, at taxpayer expense, which promised to teach “posture, deportment, and the feminine presence.” The pre-edit web site also apparently promoted tips on how to “sit, stand, and walk like a model,” according to Bragg. Continue reading »