A Different Kind of Battle

40 years ago, 46 women filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against Newsweek Magazine. At that time, 25% of the staff journalists were female. This year, 39% of the staff is female. And yet, the author of 46 headlines published by the magazine last year were by men. An article published in Newsweek last Friday addressed this issue and the battle that women still face in regards to our place in the work force and the control we have over our careers.

The women who wrote the 1970 article brought up several very valid points that even in my career I have been witness too. Women in positions of power have had to fight hard against the glass ceiling, albeit a thinner one that was there 40 years ago. This leaves them perceived as unkind, overly ambitious, and other sometimes not-so-nice stereotypes. Does this come from an unrealistic expectation that's placed on young girls during their youth? You can have it all: the house, the husband, the 2.5 kids, the SUV, and the career, if your willing to work hard for it.

But in reality, you can't have it all. And, in my personal life, I've experienced the opposite of the battle described in Newsweek. After the birth of my second child, I chose to downgrade my position at work to be able to be home more. This led me to experience opposite judgments than those who are trying to climb the ladder of success. I've been perceived as lazy, just a home-maker, unambitious; one co-worker even went as far as to tell me that in making that choice, I'm fighting against all that the women of the past had fought for. Didn't I appreciate the fact that I can be out of the house and have a career, instead of being just a mom?

Of course I appreciate that. I'm all for people advancing themselves; if you have a dream, go for it. But, the different battle I've faced is that my dream is to be a mom, and that's it. I don't have a desire for a title other than mommy. Does that make me unappreciative of the battle that has been fought by my female predecessors for the right to work? Of course not. But, in reality, shouldn't equal rights mean that I can choose to work or choose to be home?

It's a very good read and rather eye opening, but it leaves me wishing that when discussing sexism in society, that people wouldn't forget the other side of the battle: there are those of us who want nothing more than to be homemakers, and that should be acceptable as well as those who want to be CEO's.

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Secret Service Dither Over Bitter Twitter

Tweeting - it sounds so harmless; but a Tweet is not just a Tweet when you are threatening to kill the President of the United States.

According to Adam Ostrow , that's what two Twitter users found out after publishing tweets reading “ASSASSINATION! America, we survived the Assassinations and Lincoln & Kennedy. We’ll surely get over a bullet to Barrack Obama’s head” and “You Should be Assassinated!! @Barack Obama.” Apparently, the two were frustrated over the passage of the Health Care Reform Bill.

The Secret Service takes threats such as these seriously and after being told there would be a federal investigation, both Twitter users tried to back track from their remarks. According to ABC News , the two were frustrated over the passage of Health Care @THHEE_JAY was taken offline and @Solly_Forrel posted "Let us all renounce the harsh rhetoric.....Several including myself have used inappropriate language. Let's remain civil!"

This is an example of how social media does carry weight. We've all been cautioned about Facebook; how employers are monitoring and what you view as your innocent party pictures could hamper your efforts to snag that new job or promotion. Moms used to issue the warning "remember to wear clean underwear in case you're in an accident"; nowadays the warning is "remember, once you put something out on cyberspace it can come back to haunt you." The person showing up at your door, could be a Federal Agent.

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Protect Dawn and Meredith

Recently a trainer, Dawn Brancheau at SeaWorld was killed when the killer whale she was working with suddenly grabbed her by the hair and pulled her into the water. Cameras at SeaWorld captured two different angles, but neither camera captured the entire event.

SeaWorld joined forces with the Brancheau family this week to try and keep photos and the videos of Dawn’s death out of the public eye. They are concern that members of the media will be able to gain access to the videos if they become part of an investigative file with law enforcement.

Lisa Bloom a legal analyst for CNN stated on CNN.com “In fact, Florida's broad laws regarding access to public documents creates a great likelihood of such a possibility. As a general rule, matters of a police file are public record, and the media has access to contents of a police file. Most mainstream media are not going to broadcast someone being killed or someone's remains, but it's a matter of having that access to decide how to use it," Bloom said.

Another story that relates to this is the '>Meredith Emerson story. A reporter for Hustler magazine requested pictures of the crime scene for a story that they were doing on Meredith. The pictures showed Emerson’s nude and decapitated body. A judge blocked the request for these pictures, Hustler magazine is searching for options available if they choose to push this further.

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CBS Turns Down Tiger

CBS was recently one of the three media outlets chosen to conduct a five minute interview with Tiger Woods.

To viewers, this may seem like an honor. To CBS? Not so much.

CBS has chosen to turn down the interview.

The reason CBS refused has nothing to do with the fact that the maximum time allotted for the interview is a mere five minutes. Or even that by the time the interview airs, viewers would already have had a chance to see his other interviews on every local news and sports report.

Though Woods is declaring several topics of conversation too personal for the interview, even that is not the reason CBS won't commit.

CBS simply did not see any value in an interview with Woods.

CBS is responsible for broadcasting the Masters -- the tournament Woods has chosen to make his season debut. Should he make it to the final rounds of the Masters, Woods would be getting more than enough coverage to keep viewers satisfied.

A five minute interview before the Masters over topics decided solely by Woods himself, would not be beneficial to its viewers, according to Sean McManus, president of CBS Sports.

CBS is set in their decision not to interview Woods. They may, however, be singing a different tune, should Tiger Woods win his fifth Green Jacket next month at the Masters.

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