Sexism, Douche and Start-up Culture

In addition to genuine obstacles, career women have to deal with the dumbest advice imaginable. Which leads me to ask: Is sexism alive and well in business?

Two extremely thought-provoking “articles” (I’m using the term loosely) on the topic of women in business crossed my path recently. The first was a musing, from a smart and successful female entrepreneur, on why more women aren’t running start-ups, particularly in the tech sector. The second was about douche. Specifically, douching and its value to women asking for a raise. I’m not joking.

We’ve come a long way, baby. On the one hand, smart observations about the culture of venture capital, start-ups, tech, and why their culture tends to turn off women; on the other, the suggestion that the thing preventing career women from further advancement is, well, crotch odour.

Summer’s Eve is the company behind this odious advertorial in Woman’s Day, one so insulting and outdated that, as the Daily Kos points out, it reads like Onion satire.

The two pieces obviously don’t share a intellectual value, but the fact that both exist in the current discourse around women in business makes them worthy of a joint conversation.

Tereza Nemessayani is an experienced female CEO of a tech start-up. Her point is that in addition to doing the bulk of the work around children and families – and despite the fact that women-led companies are a lower-risk investment – women have less access to all forms of financial capital. Women-led start-ups are funded less than their male-led counterparts, and women’s participation in the VC, angel-investment, and incubator-model games is also low. This injury, taken with the insult of the Summer’s Eve ad, leads me to ask: Is sexism is alive and thriving in the business world today?

To me, the comments on Nemessayani’s article are illuminating. The second suggests that women’s critiques of the current system of start-ups, entrepreneurship, and financing proves they aren’t cut out for the game. He (for it must be a “he”) suggests that if we can’t cut it, we should shut up and get out of the way. This is a typical response to women who critique the old boys club or traditional business models. As someone who wrote a business book specifically for women, I’ve had to engage it on more than a few occasions. I find it nothing short of laughable that, in this post-collapse economy, people still entertain the idea that the current system is more or less flawless. Often, what women are asking for is a re-evaluation of an unsustainable system.

The start-up cliché of young, white guys coding in a garage, subsisting on pizza and energy drinks is a cliché for a reason. I’ve seen it. It isn’t pretty. And it’s fine for, well, young, white guys with little to lose. But as Nemessayani points out, the sweet spot for women starting businesses is after they’ve had kids. When you’ve got a family to feed and house, risking everything is seldom an option. Still, time and time again, when those of us who are wisely and reasonably risk-averse suggest re-evaluating entrepreneurship to make it work for a larger group of people, we are told we don’t measure up. Sigh.

I suppose that’s the lens through which I view the ad in Woman’s Day. In addition to the very real obstacles women face in business, we have deal with the dumb fictions of the “douche to get ahead” set. Is sexism alive and well in business? I’ll venture as far as to say that, work-wise, we don’t yet live in a post-sexism world, but I’m keen to hear what you think.