Response to Richard, who's in the golf industry: Sadly, for several years, since "Me Too," there's been almost no hugging at tackle shows. I'm 77, and women who struggled and fought to do "men's" jobs during the 60s and 70s had to be tough. When (and it wasn't "if" but "when") we were approached by a boss or supervisor or someone else with authority over our jobs, we simply told them we weren't interested. I don't know of anyone who was disciplined as a result of turning down a swell invite for dinner. So, having opened doors and made many new things possible for women, we're a bit disappointed that today, instead of simply refusing these great offers, they feel they must accept them...and then pursue revenge via a lawsuit. We lived in an environment where we got compliments like, "You've done a helluva job of selling advertising...in spite of the fact you're a woman." This from a boss who simply expected me to load my pickup with cases of books and magazines, drive several hours to the next show, set up the booth, work four 12-hour days plus an 8-hour day Sunday before packing up what hadn't sold and starting the drive home. I was a single mother during those years, and he never, ever asked what I did to ensure that my children were properly cared for while I was off having "fun" at the shows. (He didn't like to go out and meet people.) It's sad not only that young women aren't benefitting from the ground-breaking we did for them, but that they've now gone a long ways toward making everyone less open and friendly.

Jump to this post