Equality of Stupid
by Miki SaxonIf you follow any form of news you know that sexual foible has once again reared its immortal head and laid several leaders low.
This time, one of the high-flyers who fell was a woman.
David Petraeus, retired four-star general and director of the CIA, resigned, while Christopher Kubasik, destined to become Lockheed Martin CEO on January 1, was fired.
Their downfall was to be expected; every guy who has been caught playing around has watched his career sink in the harsh glare of the media spotlight.
The difference is that this time one of the women involved is being treated to that same spotlight.
Up to now Paula Broadwell has had the kind of career that positioned her for a stellar path over the next 25 years.
Her biography on the Penguin Speakers Bureau Web site says that she is a research associate at Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. She received a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. A self-described “soccer mom” and an ironman triathelete…
40 is young to have your career cut short, but the American public is unforgiving when it comes to anything that involves sex—especially true in our wired world.
I’ve always found it amusing to hear it claimed that “a woman wouldn’t [X], they are different.”
I think women are capable of being just as arrogant, just as stupid and just as conniving as any male out there.
The difference lies more in their survival instinct, which has been honed by several thousand years of pure necessity.
So even as the coercion eases the instinct has stayed strong.
Additionally, it’s a numbers game.
There are far more high-profile males than high-profile females, so the number of men who act out and get stupid is significantly greater than the women who do the same thing.
Flickr image credit: Tom Raftery