A pretty face? A beautiful mind? A short skirt?

There is a big article on MSN and on the Today Show about how being "good looking" affects your hiring probability and also your promotions. Umm..yess. do we really need to be reminded of this? I have worked in alot of advertising, radio, magazine, and promotional jobs, among others. Yes. looks matter. As does attitude. I could fling around a client like a catfish on shrimp bait when I wore the tall sandals, skirts and loose blonde hair in PC and any other places we have lived.

In contrast, when I wore pearls, button up shirts (which was what I wore most times anyway) and talked in a no-nosense kindof way, the men listened and didn't make any little come ons....but there were always the cocky exceptions. Some of which I could professionally accept, to be honest, because I "liked" them, due to some compass in your head that tells you they are "OK" but the others- just some old men or cocky young lads trying to get the better deal or think they could charm you.

I learned early in my career- charm them first. Not with your looks but with your brain. The ones who are turned off by it will leave you alone, and the ones who like it will respect you and keep comming back. That's not to say, in the business world, that cheap tricks don't work- I've had clients send me flowers, gift certificates etc in order to get their job done quicker. It works at times, only because they were worthy in my mind due to their own hard work outside of their wooing and due to their personality. I accumulated info about that let me know they were just good people and deserved a break or some extra attention.
I worked once for a Chapman employee (read : People's First in PC, but their charity organization....) that said once " our red t-shirts are worn on Fridays (for casual Friday) but it's good if it matches your underwear".

What?? I should have sued the shit out of them. I had too much more important going on at the time- a big wedding, a big marriage, a big union, a big departure from that job. When I left, I wrote a nice long letter to the female head of Corp. and listed all the problems this particular person had hoisted upon me. But Ialmost felt bad for him- old enough for a heart attack, old enough for retirement and he had to go say something stupid.

I love my big hair (always have had it, mostly due to humidity, somewhat due to massive inherited Scot thick hair), nothing against my big anything- in fact, I sometimes think it's other women who are more incensed by other women's "big" anything that get on their nerves. Both genders bring women down, not just the men! believe it. I have lived the double standard. Women's equality is very much held down by their own just as much as from the men. If you walk into a place of work with blonde hair, good legs, somewhat of a real body...just let the women start tearing you down. It happens quick- that bitterness of others. The ones who are the haters miss out on what you have upstairs, and too bad for them. It's easier to be lazy and think that the stereotypes fit your mold isn't it??
Now, the soothing soundtrack of "Out of Africa" is playing...so beautiful. Always reminds me of my mother (this is her favorite film), and my own musical playlist (one of my fave films of all time). I cannot imagine a more delicate sound set against such harsh landscape for a composer- but they did it! A soundtrack worthy of a few hours of listening while playing cards, painting, etc.
Night...