LZ Sunday Paper Newsletter: The "Not What's Not To Love About" Edition
JUST TO KICK THINGS OFF:
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Mailbox, Flatiron/New York City, 2014
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Readers,
You've probably noticed that, in the face of public scrutiny on inequity in hiring, promotion, and compensation practices, there's been a rash of "confessions" by big tech & digital companies. Apple, Google, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Yahoo, Microsoft, eBay, LinkedIn, Cisco, Intel, and Hewlett Packard have all published their "diversity stats." I bet you can guess the general trend lines! If you'd like to see just how right you are, this article does a great job summing it up.
These declarations are a mea culpa response to the heightened coverage of the topic by both mainstream and not-so-on-the-beaten path publications. Of the approximately 14 kerbillion articles that have these issues of gender bias in the tech business and the culture at large, it sometimes feel that I have reprinted 13.9 kerbillion of them here in the Sunday Paper.
I sometimes allow myself to get enthusiastic that coverage of the gender/sexism issue seems to have increased. Maybe that can lead to awareness. Maybe awareness leads to action. Maybe action leads to change.
Though consistent in its coverage, The Sunday Paper was excited to give you faithful folks a break from the news of the world. I thought we wrapped up the summer well last week: content to be amused and pleased by ice bucket fundraising; horrified by world events, to be sure, but willing to put it on hold while we get ready to go back to work and school.
This week, we were ready to deliver to you a first-ever What's-Not-To-Love-About edition. We have a surplus of light, fun, funny, strange, compelling, click-worthy items that have been accumulating, a by-product of clipping far more good stuff than my one WNTLAbout slot per week allows. That would have been a delightful, non-taxing way to end the summer Sunday Paper season.
Then, just yesterday, I read this month's "Wired." I really enjoy Wired. Its coverage of all things contemporary, digital, inventive, innovative, and tech-culture-shifting is excellent. I was excited to pull this article about--guess what?! gender bias in Silicon Valley!!--for inclusion in next week's LZSPaper.
So I finished the very solid gender-bias-in-Silicon-Valley article in the very good issue of Wired. I was satisfied by a terrific, in-depth Edward Snowden cover story; the gorgeous photography; the many other interesting features, profiles, and columns; the adorable and tech-forward graphics in abundance.
But then…I was thinking about the gender-imbalance article again. And the folks who actually commission stories, so I perused the Table of Conents. And those who put together the issue, so I looked at the Masthead. And then I flipped through every page of the magazine again, registering the photos all the articles in a new light.
I see the names, I start mentally categorizing, I make assumptions. Sure, "Sam" could be short for Samantha. Sure, a non-traditional and, to me, un-categorizable name might be erroneously classified as male. Like most of my previous observational research, it's just that: observational, flawed by "profiling," and deeply non-scientific.
It's just one issue. But here are the stats as I scanned them:
Cover Story: subject: male; author: male; photographer: male.
An important editorial side-bar to the Cover Story: "How To Save The Net" -- 6 notable contributors: 6 male.
Top 11 editorial posts listed on the masthead: 11 male
Credited submissions to the Letters To The Editor:
9 male
1 female
The subject matter of every single piece of content in the entire issue:
1 female
--and of course the aforementioned important article about sexism in Silicon Valley
The photographers credited for every single piece of photo content in the entire issue:
1 female
The subject of every single image in the entire issue, including graphics, clip art, original photography, info graphics:
1 female (the scientist in the one article with a woman subject);
1 female "BoxTroll" figure from the upcoming movie;
1 illustration of a woman on a horse holding an iPad (she goes with the twice aforementioned sexism article);
a couple of (lascivious) female comic/movie images in an article about a famous graphic/comic artist.
On a positive-er note, of the 30+ bylines in the entire issue, I counted 20 male and 9 female writers.
And that's in the issue with an important article about…Sexism in the tech world.
Ooof.
As long as business entities are confessing their diversity stats, I think it's only fair that The LZSundayPaper does, as well. So far, we have a decent track record for female diversity. 100%!
Granted, this is only a sample of one. Or, we could make it three, if you count it as me, myself, and I--the founder, curator, and intern, respectively.
I wonder if I am not earning 77% of every dollar a man would not be earning if he worked for free doing this every week?
Perhaps next week we'll get to my long-gestating What's Not To Love About? issue. For now, The LZSundayPaper will once again expose and recirculate news about, and very frequently by, women in business, media, and culture.
The weekly clips progress in a roughly consistent progression: from general business news, through digital & entrepreneurship, on to media, arts & entertainment. We love sports, literature, and pop culture of every denomination. We (and by now you have figured out that by "we," we mean "I") sincerely hope that you will be caused to laugh out loud at least once in this read.
Send interesting stuff you think we may have missed, and tell people you think will enjoy it to sign up at LZSundayPaper@gmail.com.
Follow, favorite, and retweet it/me/us @LZSundayPaper.
Enjoy!
LZ
THE PIC(K) OF THE WEEK:
Playboy Posts Handy Catcalling Flow Chart via The Week
THE ABBREVIATED VMA/EMMY RETROSPECTIVE ROUND-UP:
Beyonce's VMA Performance Was The Feminist Moment I Have Been Waiting For via The New Republic
Sofia Vergara's Bizarre, Objectifying Emmy Moment via Salon
Emmys 2014 Were A Triumph For Women Of A Certain Age via The Telegraph
AND NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING: NEWS & INSIGHTS:
The Troll Slayer via The New Yorker
**Deliberating Bodies: Sexism In Congress via The New Yorker
The Diversity Issue In Tech Firms Starts Before The Recruiting Process via The Washington Post**
What Women Want: Why Big Brands Are Competing To Sell Us The Feminist Message via The London Evening Standard
Polygamy Is Legal In Utah, For Now via BuzzFeed
Tokyo Gives Housewives Hard Choice via The Wall Street Journal
The NFL Scores A Touchdown With Female Fans via Adweek
Former Intern Takes General Catalyst To Task On Gender, Again via Xconomy.com
The Year I Didn't Retweet Men via Medium
Dear Google Glass, Moms Like Technology, Too via The Li.st via Medium
Turkey Sees Rise In Halal Tourism via BBC
Opting Out For The Kids via AVC
Meeting Malala Gives Boost To Creators Of #GirlWithABook Project via UN News Centre
Louis CK Takes On The Fat-Girl Paradox And Gets It (Mostly) Right via Refinery29 via Medium
Kate Ledecky Sets Record In 1,500-Meter Freestyle via The New York Times
Tori Amos On Life At 50, Spiritual Eroticism, and Her Latest Album 'Unrepentant Geraldines' via Vulture
Kate Bush Comeback Reviews RoundUp: Unanimous In Their Awe via The Guardian
Scooby-Doo And The Unfortunate Case Of Daphne's Fat-Shaming via Time
What Divisive "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" Cover Says About Books And Readers via The Washington Post
Hello Kitty Is Not A Cat via The Los Angeles Times
AND WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT:
The Penis Propaganda That Warned WWII-era Soldiers About Venereal Disease via Gizmodo
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The LZ Sunday Paperâ„¢ (soon to be registered trademarked and copyrighted) launched at the dawn of 2014. We expose and recirculate interesting content that is about, and frequently by, women in business, with a dose of ultra-relevant culture. We think that culture comes in size high, medium, and low. Our audience for this content is vast and not gender-driven. Every week we expect at least one good laugh. Send suggestions, clips, or names of people you think might enjoy this to LZSundayPaper@gmail.com.
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