Monthly Archives: May 2012

May18

Its so easy to send a message

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View from the 74th floor of Q1 looking north a...

View from the 74th floor of Q1 looking north across Surfers Paradise. Taken on January 10, 2006. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Watching the television tonight I noticed an advertisement for the Gold Coast, Queensland (Australia) to hear the catch phrase, [the Gold Coast]“where men wear shorts and women wear  bikini‘s”.  The message I guess is appealing, a great place to go to see lots of girls in bikini’s, a place for lots of sun and a relaxed atmosphere – the beach, sun and sea, a place to have fun.

The underlying message to our young girls is different.  Whilst the ‘boys’ can be relaxed in their shorts, ready for fun and dressed for action, the ‘girls’ still need to be appealing.  They need to be sexually attractive, they need to be fun loving but stay sexy.  Am I too harsh?  Picture yourself wearing a comfy and relaxed pair of shorts for a moment.  You are comfortable, you can run, you can walk, you can sit on the floor with your legs stretched out, you can do manual work, you can play sport, you can drive a car, you can get on a bus, you can eat in a restaurant.  None of these messages to the men say that they need to be sexy at the same time. Read the rest of this entry →

May17

The Mother of all Roles

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This fantastic job was advertised on SEEK.com on May 11, 2012 in amongst all the other executive roles on SEEK.

Here is what the ad said;

The Mother of all Roles

  • Enjoy a huge stretch
  • Moderate financial reward, enormous personal satisfaction
  • Continuous learning

Working crazy hours across your two offices, you will be on call 24/7 for at least 18 years. Commencing with one, or even two direct reports, your team may grow over time, but that’s entirely up to you and your co-director.

As a new starter in this role you’ll be expected to keep all the balls in the air.  You will find many experienced professionals providing gratuitous advice which you will screen with a warm smile and a sharp mind.  Within just a year or two of commencing in this role you will have created your own leadership style.  You’ll learn an enormous amount of your skills on the job and your team members will thrive under your outstanding organisational skills.

KPI’s of success include:

  • Multi-tasking
  • Meeting seemingly impossible deadlines
  • Mastering ‘just in time’ management
  • Some skillful bribery may be required
  • Legal but precision driving skills

The organisation has a family style environment but it can be tough when things become time critical. Past office holders have experienced times when they have barely coped with the demands of managing work across the two offices. At these times, the organisation recommends a mini-break and a team meeting with your co-director and team members. Hiring a contractor to help get through the daily workload will likely lead to a constructive solution.

You’ll be regularly celebrating milestones with both your own team and their colleagues.

Candidates without previous experience in the specific role are invited to apply as the sector recognises your gargantuan contribution.

Remuneration: Remuneration on offer is typically not as high as the ultimate satisfaction of two jobs well done.

nexthire has declared Monday May 14 to be Working Mother‘s Day – to celebrate their commitment and achievements. For further information visit nexthire.com.au.

Nexthire salutes Working Mothers this May.

I thought that this job description was so well written, that I rang nexthire to find out more, knowing that it was a role description of a mother. Kate, from nexthire, said that they placed the ad primarily to celebrate Mothers Day, but also to promote the business. She said that nexthire had a number of ‘working mums’ in its workforce and this was a good way of drawing attention to their contribution.

The really interesting part of this story is that a number of people applied for, or inquired after the role. Some of them were men so I wondered what attributes of the role most interested people. Kate couldn’t supply the details due to privacy so it is left to us to speculate, but maybe the implied job satisfaction was a great motivator.  She thought that the people who applied might be embarrassed and I wondered why they might be.  Is it because they fell for a PR exercise and not a real ad, or is it that some of the men would be embarrassed to find that they had applied for a ‘female’s’ job – that of being a mother.

What a great world it would be if people were happy to apply for jobs like this one and that they were not gender specific – that is:  that men and women could accept that both men and women can be ‘mothers’, or at least already have the attributes of a mother which they can apply at will.

Thank you to nexthire for giving Changing Women permission to reprint the ad here.

http://www.nexthire.com.au

About nexthire

nexthire, formerly known as final5, uses the latest in recruitment technology and techniques to deliver quality, screened shortlists within 10 days for a flat fee. It does not charge placement fees. nexthire delivers targeted and well executed advertising campaigns to attract the right candidates, specialised candidate briefing to meet your brief, and a qualified shortlist of candidates ready for interview.

For media information contact:

Kate Lewin
Media Relations – nexthire
klewin@nexthire.com.au

May13

Diversity Works

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May 13, 2012

Diversity Works, and it starts with you!

Whether you are a corporation,  a nonprofit, a LGBT certified business or ally, or just someone curious about how Diversity Works, we’re glad you’re here.

We are a marketing and communications agency that supports enterprises in developing and implementing creative approaches to tell their diversity story. Through innovative traditional and social media, videos, community events, and other opportunities, we help our clients get their creative gears in motion.

Then, our unique process, LGBT Brand Integration, moves entities into high gear, Turning Your Pride Into Profit. TM

http://diversityworksllc.com/

May12

I watched a show about the history of Playboy last night and found it extremely interesting on a number of fronts.

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During the show, on SBS One (Australia) May 10, 2012, Hugh Hefner (the founder of Playboy) said he was surprised at the feminist backlash he and Playboy received in the 80′s.  He said that it took him by surprise because he (genuinely) thought he had helped women to take part in the ‘sexual revolution’ of the 60′s, saying that Playboy not just about beautiful women, but that it is an entire lifestyle.  Playboy represented the lifestyle of the rich and famous, a fantasy world that few could actually inhabit, but that so many people were keenly interested in and wanted to be a part of.  In the early Playboy days, the rich and famous flocked to the Playboy hotels and casinos around the world, and the Playboy image and business became extremely successful.  The Playboy image became one of the most recognized brands around the world.

Hefner acknowledged that the ‘playboy bunny’ (stylised bunny suit worn by female Playboy Casino workers) promoted an objectified view of women, but he thought that Playboy gave all women a sort of sexual freedom, an ability to be a part of this (largely male) lifestyle of the rich and famous.  To a degree, this assertion was true, and as one early ‘bunny’ put it, she was proud to be involved with the organization.  Rules were very strict and with an emphasis on ‘classy’, the working environment was reasonably safe for a single woman.  In the 1960’s this appealed to many women’s ideal of what it is to be a woman.  Feminism was just asserting itself and western women were starting to test their independence.  One early ex bunny who was interviewed by the show, said that when she was a bunny in the 60′s, women could not do much financially without the signature of a male.  They couldn’t get a loan or credit card by themselves, as many women did not earn an income so they needed a male ‘guarantor’ to co sign for them.  Yet working in the Playboy Casino’s these women were able to earn incomes that were often higher than the casino managers own wage.  Wages and tips were very good and when combine their wages were often higher than that of their own fathers!  The ability to earn such high incomes in relative safety gave the women a sense of freedom, and the ability to shape their own financial destiny.

“Playboy is an American men’s magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner’s mother.[3] The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with a presence in nearly every medium. Playboy is one of the world’s best known brands.[4] In addition to the flagship magazine in the United States, special nation-specific versions of Playboy are published worldwide.”  [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy]

May10

Things are changing in women’s fashion

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Some fantastic developments in women’s fashion – things are changing!

One of the main objectives of this Forum was:

To promote realistic design paradigms for women’s fashion by working with designers to recognise the Changing Women’s body.  Enabling comfortable stylish clothes for women will help more women to “Embrace their Shape” and to live free of the pressure of the fashion industry and media.  Let us change the model of what it is to look like a woman!

Susanne Moore Skirt

Susanne Moore Skirt

Many of you may remember the skirt that I designed in early 2011, well now many other well known designers including Armani, Country Road, George Gross, Harry Who and Karen Millen have come up with designs based on the same concept!  This means that someone has been taking some notice of what women want.

We want stylish yet comfortable clothing that is easy to wear and have some ‘give’ so you don’t feel like you are in a straight jacket!  My skirt has an expandable waist band and stretch material down each side for added comfort when you are sitting in the office all day.  It is lined and really comfortable to wear.  I designed and made it because I as I got closer to menopause just couldn’t get comfortable in most of the clothes that I had and just wanted to wear track pants and loose clothes the whole time.  At this time of your life, your weight changes almost daily!  I found that I could wear this skirt all day with a pair of black tights, be comfortable and still look good. You can buy my skirts online at In the Bush at the Beach.

Many of the skirts and pants that are designed for bigger women, or older women (like me), whose changing body is now wonderfully curvy, have high elastic waists.  They often come up very high over your stomach and when you sit down make a big bulge.  Many designers think that they need to make the design so it comes up and over your tummy, but this just results in the skirt fitting tightly at the top and in some cases it just cuts into you when you sit down.  What we really need is a waist band that is soft and wide and sits just under the belly button.  This is tricky, because too wide and the band will roll, to thin and it will cut into you.  If you are like me and are not big but still have a belly bulge, you don’t want anything on your belly, nothing tight and nothing that makes any bulge at the belly line.

George Gross and Harry Who, a well known Australian design group have embraced the shape of ‘real women’ and have a similar skirt for winter (Print Jersey 23 inch Rouched Skirt)  that provides a little more room in the hip area whilst still providing a slim fit look.  It also has stretch side panels and the waist that sits just under the belly button for maximum comfort.

Karen Millen, England has something similar, her high waisted skirt gray, see above far right.  Notice the same stretch material down the sides and the slim waist band.  This is a higher waisted skirt and without trying it on, I can’t tell if it would be comfortable.  It is interesting that many skirts of this style has shown up this season.

So great news!

Thank you to Briana at George Gross & Harry WHO for supplying the photo’s.

RESOURCES

George Gross & Harry WHO online store

Karen Millen online store

Susanne Moore skirts available at In the Bush at the Beach online store