More Stereotypical Coverage of Women
Media stories are everywhere today asking the question about the new pregnant female CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer: Can she handle motherhood and her career? This stereotypical, sexist coverage is ridiculous. Has anyone asked if the men who are CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies could handle fatherhood and their careers?
It is also an old question. In June of 1974, former women’s page editor Carol Sutton was named managing editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal – the first woman in this position at a newspaper that her family did not own. This is from my article in American Journalism about Sutton. It is sadly familiar more than three decades later:
“Sutton was not treated the same as a man would have when considered for the position. After Sutton’s promotion was announced, (Publisher Barry) Bingham, Jr. told Newsweek that he had asked Sutton if the job, along with caring for her two daughters would be too much strain. He said, “I don’t think I would have asked that if she had been a man.”[i] (Former Managing Editor George) Gill recalled that when considering Sutton for the promotion, someone questioned if a mother of two could be in the executive position. He said, “I raised the roof – nobody ever asked me if I could still be a father to my children.”[ii]
