WOMENKIND

Female comedians have been present in most of popular culture, allowing a great deal of funny women to make serious careers out of their fanatically humorous personalities. Headlining their own national tours, starring in sitcoms, publishing award-winning novels and producing their own reality series, women like Joan Rivers, Kathy Griffin, Betty White, Sarah Silverman and Tina Fey have made their mark and earned the respect of comedy-loving Americans.

So it’s surprising how many male comedians don’t think women are funny. Johnny Carson told Rolling Stone magazine: “The ones that try sometimes are a little aggressive for my taste. I’ll take it from a guy, but from women, sometimes, it just doesn’t fit too well.” Jerry Lewis told an audience that he “didn’t like any female comedians.” Even Tina Fey has admitted that she still hears people “insisting that women are not funny.” The list goes on of public figures declaring that women just aren’t as funny as men. Of course, we here at WomenKind couldn’t help but add our two cents.

We started by polling many of the women and men here at WomenKind, later expanding the questions about humor and gender to our families and close friends. Interestingly, nearly every respondent stated that they found male comics funnier than female comics. The difference, however, was that not a single person stated that women weren’t funny. This brought us to the greater issue, that of public respect and gender equality.

The real issue, of respecting one another in any public forum, has been around ever since we began breaking down large populations into smaller stereotypes of races, genders, ethnicities, and sexualities. We have publically spoken of “our opinions,” as if they didn’t hurt or impact others. As time has progressed, however, we’ve tried to avoid racist and sexist generalizations in hopes of creating a more accepting and loving society. Today, you would never state publically that all black men are athletic.

The issue here isn’t that public figures are stating their disapproval of particular female comics. In fact, that would be preferred. Instead, it’s about grouping others into arbitrary categories that deprive individuals of their individuality. In a world with over 3 billion women, surely some of them are funny.

We don’t pre-judge people by race, because it’s wrong. So let’s stand up and admit that though you may think some female comedians aren’t funny, it’s unhelpful to generalize about them all. It’s not just a woman thing; it’s a human respect thing. We’re better than that.

Watch the full episode. See more Women War and Peace.

PBS’s upcoming 5-part series, entitled: Women, War & Peace, is a look into the roles that women take when violence and war erupts in their countries. The trailer for the series, which begins airing October 11th, describes the circumstances where it is more dangerous to be a woman than a man when war breaks out. Its parts feature the women of Bosnia, Liberia, Afghanistan and Colombia, who have had pivotal roles in their countries’ wars. The 5th part of the series features subject matter experts, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, discussing the state of women and war and challenging the notion that war is a man’s domain.

Check out Shout—a brilliant new brainchild from the seasoned Mad Women at SheSays, Alessandra Lariu and Amanda Jaskiewicz. It’s all about female digital advertising professionals collaborating to think up big, game-changing campaign ideas for real clients. This online community enables members to connect virtually and in-person through various events, courses and the occasional happy hour. The best part? Winning concepts are rewarded with cash.

How it works:
•    Register and create a free user profile
•    Scope out current projects and read their briefs
•    Connect with other women to collaborate on a submission
•    Submit an idea and/or explore others’ submissions and provide a rating or feedback
•    Earn prize money for community of client selected ideas or earn credits for participating in the rating process

Pretty neat huh? From our perspective, it’s one of the coolest extracurricular ways for ad gals to express their creativity and meet others who share their passion. So….what are you waiting for? Current projects include Karlsson’s Gold Vodka and Digiday. Let’s go girls!

As we are all acutely aware, yesterday marked the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on our country. Throughout the weekend, footage from that fateful morning and commemoration ceremonies commanded the airwaves, mourning our victims and celebrating our heroes.

From left to right: Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva

It’s U.S Open time in New York City! We love tennis because it (literally) puts men and women on the same playing field. In fact, some of the most recognizable female athletes are tennis pros.

"Being a lady does not require silence" - Betty Ford (1918-2011)

That is how Reverend Lane Hensley described her at her memorial service on July 12. We love Betty Ford because she was unafraid to bear her true self to the world, as a beautiful, vivacious, and multi-faceted woman.

We didn't bring this home, and still made history.

It was beginning to look too much like an inspiring children’s sports movie. The USA women’s soccer team had already had an amazing come back against Brazil, and they were minutes from winning the World Cup Final against Japan. The analogies between this 2011 team and the 1999 team were everywhere, and then the unthinkable happened: the USA lost. They had never been losing during the finals, they had never lost any World Cup match after scoring the first goal, and they had already beaten Japan twenty-five times in a row.

Christine Lagarde became the first woman Managing Director of the IMF this week

As the case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn continues to unravel, it is easy to overlook a far more important piece of news concerning the former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF): his successor.  Christine Lagarde will assume not only one of the most powerful jobs in the world, but also the responsibilities that come from holding such a prominent position in an uncertain financial time.

As Greece’s economy continues to collapse, and emerging markets such as Brazil demand more say in global finances, the head of the IMF must be smart, responsible, and most importantly, a strong leader. The standard is set even higher for Christine Lagarde because she will also be the first woman to head the IMF. While some may doubt her abilities, because her training is in corporate law, not economics, Christine Lagarde is both qualified and proven. Before heading the IMF, she was the French finance minister, and the first woman finance minister in any G7 country. Breaking boundaries is nothing new to Ms. Lagarde who was the first woman to lead Baker & McKenzie, a Chicago law firm. Even more impressive is that to become head of the IMF, Ms. Lagarde had to gain the approval of its twenty-four member board of administrators who happen to all be male.

However, having a woman at the head may be exactly what international finance needs. Catalyst, an organization that monitors female presence in the workplace, found in a 2007 study that Fortune 500 companies with women on their board of directors had greater financial success than those companies with all-male boards. Dominque Strauss-Kahn may have tarnished the reputation of the IMF with his sexual escapades, but Christine Lagarde provides a refreshing change for the world of international finance.

*Photo Credit: MEDEF/Flikr

She sings, acts, dances, tweets, blogs and cooks! We love Gwyneth! "My Father's Daughter" Grand Central Life & Style Publishers

On a recent Friday night, I took my girls to see their first concert — Glee Live! My senses are always heightened when I’m deliberately creating memories for the sweet girls, so this night had us all beaming with delight.

We danced and sang along with Rachel and Santana and Kurt and Puck and Finn, but we never expected to see Gwyneth Paltrow, who shocked the audience by taking the stage as Miss Holiday, singing Cee Lo’s ubiquitous song of 2011.

What was your first taste of freedom? Most of us at Womenkind agree it was the day we finally got our driver’s license.  The day we could say bye-bye to the parental units and cruise the streets at whim.  Driving a car is a liberation all its own.