He used to say things to the girls like — thanks for letting me in ‘your group’ and ‘accepting me.’ He was totally straight too, btw.

Personally, I love PR. I’m proud I’m a part of it, and I think that sometimes the lines between the sexes get blurred and rather nasty.

But at the end of the day, everyone’s free to make their own decisions, and if they decisions or the words that come out of their mouths are offensive — it’s up to me, to set that distance.

That’s my choice.

Ok, now that I have my required jab out of the way! Now that I think of it, through out my educational career, the majority of PR majors at my school were female. In my class, I believe there were 4-5 males who I graduated with that got a degree in PR. Hadn’t thought about it until now. Wow!

I think a lot of it goes back to the sterotype of PR being party planners and the “f” word. No, not the 4-letter word. Traditionally, the wedding planners and party planners were female – that is obviously changing as PR evolves into it’s true profession. At the same time, look at the traditional journalists – heavily dominated by males.

I think PR in general is not a well-known trade. It often plays second fiddle to advertising & marketing, which is fine. However, as PR has continued to showcase it’s importance, the industry has become more public. Bad or good, that’s another discussion.

As our society continues to change and evolve, so will our profession. No longer will males study economics or accounting – traditional “male” industries. Our industry has a bright future and I’m excited to be a part of it.

For me it’s not who you work with but how you work with them effectively. If you make a great team and can create awesome stuff who cares what gender you are? Stigmas are dumb. One thing I have noticed though is that far fewer women blog about PR versus men who blog about PR. Weird, huh?

I think men and women certainly provide different viewpoints and experiences that color how you may look at things, but that’s good. The fundamental priority is knowing your stuff and working hard to know how all the pieces come together.

And, I don’t think heels would work well for me (or anyone else unfortunate enough to see it.)

Good thoughts as always and thanks for sharing with us all.
-Dave

For a specific sector, you really do have to have knowledge of it. I continue to awe and amaze most men with my sports knowledge, and maybe that is why it’s still men dominated. They know their stuff – and that is transcended into how they work.

For a sector specific as sports (or fashion), a practitioner needs to possess a passion for the industry, as well as the sector. I think that’s why you may see more men in sports and not so much in fashion.

I think the sports sector is a bit more inclusive than Fashion PR. With women holding a strong ratio in the industry, it’d be tough for any of us to get a job in fashion not having any previous knowledge of the sector. It’s a case of supply and demand. Women raised without a background in sports should have a much easier time getting a job in sports than an un-savvy male would in fashion. Agree? Disagree?

In college, I had very few male classmates in my public relations classes, but I did have several male professors. I think there were more guys majoring in advertising (which, like public relations, was in the journalism school). And there were certainly more female members and leaders of discipline-related activities, like PRSSA and IABC.

In my internships and [brand new!] professional experience, though, I’ve encountered very talented male and female PR practitioners. I never really noticed that the PR departments of the agencies where I worked were actually made up of more women than men, but that’s because it didn’t really matter. We all work on the same things and everyone follows the same career progression.

I think within the industry, it’s not uncommon to know and respect pros from both genders. But the perception of people outside the industry is what might be skewed.

You and I go around and around (in a collegial and respectful way) about the roles race and gender play in perceptions.

I think its vital that people recognize that there has been advantage built up on those roles and discrimination.

Misogyny and boys will be boys behavior is about putting folk in their place.

That is why people should never be afraid to speak up when offense is taken.

It is why being called a racist has become the trendy form of victim-claiming.

The power of gender and race privilege is in its last throes, but it is NOT going down without a fight.