How can I not talk about Barbie?

I will, but I'll also complain about patriarchy ;)

Barbie-fied Feminism

I haven’t seen the film, Barbie, I’ll just start there. I bow down to the marketing team for the film. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like it. When you think about other blockbuster films, there are many based on fandoms. But that’s not the story of Barbie’s success. Barbie has less a fandom and more simply a culture in which she is a ubiquitous presence. You may be a fan or a-non-fan, as the film’s marketing campaign itself capitalizes on, but even if you consider yourself neither, you probably had a Barbie, or your sister did. Convincing everyone across the spectrum that this Barbie was for you is a feat to admire.

The movie sounds intriguing; I’m sure I’ll see it as some point, and I love how it has people talking, sounding like cultural critique is their jam. But it brings up some complicated, bigger-picture feelings for me.

Even if you haven’t seen the movie yet, perhaps, like me, you’ve seen America Ferrara’s monolog from it decrying how impossible it is to live up to the expectations this culture has of women. People are going crazy for this monolog, posting and re-posting it. Here it is in its entirety:

Yes, and…?

I mean, sure, good stuff. But expressing this conflict doesn’t feel even one tiny bit new or revelatory to me. I feel like I could find 100 OG blogger posts saying much the same. I feel like I could find 100 TV shows or movies with similar monologs.

I think that the reason this is striking such a chord and people, particularly women, are sharing this monolog is because no matter how many times these things are called out, no matter how many times we call people in, our culture has not fundamentally changed in this regard. Not for women. Not for men, who also are not served by the patriarchy and expectations of toxic masculinity. And not for binary and trans folks, who really cannot win.

Sure, incremental progress has been made. Barbie had her townhouse before most women could get credit cards or mortgages on their own. Not only did I have credit cards, but I bought a condo as a single woman 20 some years ago. Progress. (I won’t bring up, for now, the two steps back of losing bodily autonomy even as we have gained more ways to give those bodies to capitalism.)

But in many ways the progress is so slow as to be enraging…and depressing. Maybe that depression is the point…they say depression is rage turned inward. And when you’re turned inward are you as effective making change in the world around you?

So, how slow?

Here’s one example: Women are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies to the highest degree ever. 10.4%. Yay, I guess? About a quarter of those women CEOs took over in the past year. During a time of great economic uncertainly and rough seas. So my “yay” is tempered with an understanding that there is likely some “glass cliff” mentality going on here.

Another example: The 118th Congress has the most women in it ever…at 28%. (Women make up more than 50% of the population in case you’re wondering.) You’d be forgiven if you thought the percentage was much higher, given how much the media loves to focus on the “Squad” on the left and the Marjorie Taylor Greens and Lauren Boeberts of the right.

And another example that hits close to home: Back when Lisa Stone,

Jory Des Jardins

and I raised our first round of funding for BlogHer in 2007, only 2% of venture dollars when to companies solely founded by women, as BlogHer was. You probably know already that the 2% figure has not changed in 16 years. Now, to be clear (because people cite this stat incorrectly all the time, and I’m too wonky not to point it out): This stat does not tell us that only 2% of women founders get funding. It also does not tell us anything about what mixed-gender teams raise. This stat is only about what share of venture dollars go to a company whose founder(s) are only women, no men involved. That can mean a solo woman founder or multiple women, like BlogHer.

But again, despite 16 years of targeted (but essentially segregated) funds and accelerators and pitch competitions and educational websites and companies and events focused on women founders (including for a few years the BlogHer Entrepreneurs conference), the number hasn’t changed.

Maybe the reason most of those initiatives haven’t moved the needle is because they perpetuate a notion that it’s the women who need to change. They’re not as good as the men and need help. When, let’s be clear, the data show that companies with diversified C-suites and board rooms have better results…if data were going to make the difference, the numbers would have changed a decade ago. (Here’s a white paper my #forevercofounder Lisa wrote synthesizing the data on this.)

Maybe all the well-meaning investors who create separate funds or put on special learning events to “better prepare” women could do something truly radical, and just give women founders more money. And say their names in more rooms that they have access to. They have that power today.

My own prototypical Silicon Valley story

BlogHer raised our first round because an investor (who passed on us because her firm didn’t really invest in media) went to an event where she told another investor that he had to meet us, that we had what he was looking for. We met him for a drink in the Half Moon Bay Ritz Carlton lobby, and shortly thereafter our first round was in the bank. It’s the most Silicon Valley story ever. (I should also mention that one of us had worked at a company the original investor had funded, so we had the warmest of intros to her to start with.) I’m not saying the advice we got on our pitch deck from knowledgeable and well-connected people wasn’t important or helpful; it absolutely was. Or that he didn’t see our pitch deck; he did. But at the end of the day, our name was spoken in a room we weren’t in, and then someone made the call to give us the money.

It’s always amazing to me that Silicon Valley can perpetuate the heroic myth of the cocktail napkin pitch, can invest millions (and give huge valuations) to companies that don’t have a business model yet, but can simultaneously find a way to move the goalposts when the founders in front of them don’t pattern-match to the white guy with or without a college degree (and hoodie optional) who gives them a good been-there, done-that feeling inside.

Shall I lay off of Barbie?

I think I’m blaming Barbie for more than her little anatomically inaccurate shoulders can carry. And if the monolog above makes women feel seen, again, who am I to deprive us of that? But we have been here before.

Congrats to Greta Gerwig, who has broken new ground in directing the highest-growing film directed by a woman ever, and in so doing she is spreading a message, maybe being a little subversive, securing more and bigger and better jobs for herself, perhaps proving that a lady film can out perform a teenage boy film.

Yes, and: She is making a shit-ton of money for the studios currently being struck, and Mattel itself. Two things can be true. And in this case, they can remain true for literally decades, but always feel as fresh as the first time. That’s what feels problematic to me.

So. Have you seen the movie? Did you participate in a Barbenheimer event? Am I super over-thinking because it’s just a movie, dude? Lay it on me.

What else is going on?

The Op-Ed Page podcast

In last week’s episode of The Op-Ed page podcast I spend some time talking about the actors and writers strike…and how I see tremendous parallels to what has happened and is happening in Silicon Valley. There’s a lot of talk about this being a #HotLaborSummer…although news has just broken that UPS workers have agreed to a new contract and will not strike. I think there’s more to unpack about this topic that I may tackle in a part 2, but if this is part 1, it is focused on ownership and share of wealth. Increasingly the people who actually do the thing are compensated far less than the people who talk about doing the thing. I’m a strategic consultant, so I’m not opposed to strategists and leaders being well-compensated for their work, but if your company wouldn’t be a company without the doers…as Uber wouldn’t be a company without its drivers, and as studios wouldn’t be companies without actors and writers…then the doers deserve a bigger share.

And if you’re sitting in a board room somewhere thinking that AI (and the technologists who will make it work) are your solution to having to have doers, from driverless cars to AI-regenerated programming, I think you don’t know your customers as well as you think you do.

I also have a short segment on the Carlee Russell case. This was when her story was being questioned, but we did not have confirmation that she was indeed not kidnapped. That confirmation doesn’t actually change how this case reminded me of a similar famous case in NYC when I lived there in the late 80s, and it doesn’t change what I thought in both cases.

#3MinuteBookReview TikToks this week

I recorded several TikToks in the past couple of weeks, but especially:

• The World We Make (audio) by N.K. Jemisin

• Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

@elisacp#3MinuteBookReview of #TheWorldWeMake by #NKJemisin. The #audiobook was fantastic, especially the production values and audio effects, not just the great narrator. Such a satisfying final third of the book. 🤌🏻 #AmReading #Book #BookTok #ScFiFantasy (Yes thats my cat whining in the background.)

Tiktok failed to load.

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Out in the World:

I had the great fun and fortune of talking about one of my favorite pop culture topics, AppleTV+’s Ted Lasso, dissecting Season 3 with my friend and fellow Lasso-enthusiast Maria Ross on her podcast, The Empathy Edge. We covered a lot of ground from why the show resonated when it first came out to the many layers it revealed, from masculinity to female friendship, from masking to vulnerability, from the small moments that fall out from big events, to why we all feel trained to ‘ship main characters, and how the show bucked convention. We also made a prediction about the future of the show, namely my opinion that Season 3 felt like the show was embodying the Hamilton song “Teach Them How to Say Goodbye” to Ted, but not necessarily to #TheRichmondWay. Take a listen and let me know what we missed. And if you enjoy, please do share this one too, and follow Maria’s podcast :)

Until next time, please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on any or all of the above. This is basically my blog now! And as always, I appreciate a share of this newsletter or my podcast.

If I can help you break through the things that keep you stuck (or if you are intrigued by the idea of securing my fractional leadership for your initiative), set up your first introductory 30-minute consult for free by booking it in my Calendly. And you can always check out my new LinkedIn Learning Course, Telling Stories That Stick, a 57-minute course on crafting your stories for different audiences (media, investors, prospects, hiring managers) and ensuring those stories stick…and convey exactly what you hope to convey.