The White House Project

February 12, 2010

By Robyn Gordon

At 25, Lindsay Van is considered the best female ski-jumper in the world.  During the International Ski Federation’s Nordic Ski Championships 2009 held in February and March 2009, women’s ski jumping made its sporting debut, and Van was the first North American to medal in ski jumping and the first American to win gold at the championships.  However, despite Van’s status as holding the record (for both men and women) for the normal ski jumping hill at the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Van will not be able to compete as athletes gather today in Vancouver for the start of the Games.  While the Olympics hold three ski jumping events, they have always been restricted to men, who have been invited to compete since 1924.  This past November, Van led a group of 14 women ski jumpers in a lawsuit against the Olympic Organizing Committee, suing the IOC for discrimination against them by excluding female ski jumpers while allowing men to compete.  Three British Columbia Courts of Appeal judges unanimously dismissed the lawsuit, asserting that the courts had no jurisdiction over the IOC, which had made the decision to exclude women.

Even more shockingly, Gian Franco Kasper, the President of the International Ski Federation, expressed reluctance to allow women to compete at the Nordic Ski Championships a year before they were held, as he was concerned about the health issues for women.  He explained, “It’s like jumping down from two meters on the ground about a thousand times a year, which seem not to be appropriate for ladies from a medical point of view.”

Alissa Johnson, a world-ranked women’s ski jumper, revealed to MSNBC that it is frustrating and difficult to be taken seriously in a sport that she and a dozen of her teammates have spent their whole lives developing and improving without participation in the Olympics.  Yet the IOC maintainted that it made its decision to exclude women’s ski jumping strictly on a technical basis and not on gender bounds.

In another blow to US women’s ski jumping, the US Ski and Snowboard Association announced that it would drop the American team because it cannot afford to support athletes that aren’t going to the Olympics.

While Olympic CEO John Furlong maintained that “there is a very good chance that [women ski jumpers] are going to get included in the program in the future,” Johnson and Van declare that the IOC insisted the same thing after the 2002 and 2006 Olympics.  “It’s like a broken record, and we’re tired of hearing empty promises,” they said.

Van fears this may mark the end of her career, that it may be time to move on, for without the Olympics or sponsors, many athletes become frustrated and quit.  She cares more about the sport moving forward, and hopefully, for young athletes such as 15-year old Sarah Hendrickson, women’s ski jumping will appear on the roster for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  Hendrickson affirmed, “I’m just going to keep jumping and loving it.  We just have to keep going and keep trying for the people behind us.”

The Washington Post
Marie Wilson
February 8, 2010

Sarah Palin would have to have an “extreme makeover” in political knowledge and experience to restore confidence in her beyond the conservative base.

The only people who have been able to come from outside the political world (and she is now outside that world) and run have been business leaders who have led a large corporations or reached a high rank in the military. It won’t do to be a Fox pundit or a Tea Party heroine to lead a country in an era as complex as we live in now. If punditry alone is enough to get you elected president, then our democracy is in more of a disarray than I care to believe.

If Sarah Palin really wants to be a leader in this country, she should use the identity that she touted so heavily during her Vice Presidential campaign, and that many people associate her with: mother. Ms. Palin could call for a new focus on the need for a comprehensive child care policy, something we haven’t had in 40 years. If she were to focus on this issue, all the way through to passing and enacting legislation, she would be the contributing to this country in a way that is sorely needed. She would be helping all women to be the presidents of their own lives and to lead in the public world alongside men.

To view original article click here.

Harvard Business Review
By Orit Gadiesh and Julie Coffman

Companies say they treat men and women equally — but in reality, they don’t. Our recent gender-parity survey of more than 1,800 business people worldwide, conducted in association with HBR.org, shows that in fact, employees are disappointed with the way their company handles the issue of gender parity — the attempt to treat men and women equally in the workforce. Nearly 80 percent of women and men say they are convinced of the benefits of gender parity at all levels. But only about 20 percent believe their companies actually put meaningful resources behind it.

Most companies simply fall down in the follow-through. Almost three-quarters of respondents say their companies launched initiatives like flex work programs and mentorships, but fewer than 25 percent feel they are effective: employees just don’t see enough women in leadership positions at their company. Fully 60 percent of survey respondents say they are not solicited for their opinions on gender parity by their companies. The dismal metrics get worse: Less than 20 percent report that their companies effectively utilize gender parity metrics to track progress. Only 14 percent say they had effective gender parity training or workshops. Just 8 percent believe their firms effectively tied incentives and compensation to gender parity.

Read more at: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/02/why_women_still_arent_equals_i.html

February 5, 2010
By Robyn Gordon

According to Louis O. Schwartz, President of the American Sportscaster Association, women have come a long way “from just another ‘Barbie-on-the-air’ image to complement the sportscasting done by men, to today’s qualified and respected professional hired for her skills and knowledge.” While Sports Illustrated estimated in 1991 that fewer than 50 women were working as sportscasters at the 630 serious network affiliates around the country, Fox Sports News Producer Bob Steinfeld asserts that the past ten years have seen growth in the number of women in sports broadcasting by about 50%, with such well-known broadcasters as Lesley Vissey, Robin Roberts, and Andrea Kremer. While male sportscasters still outnumber female sports broadcasters, women are participating more and more in sports, both at the collegiate and professional level, and women comprise a growing percentage of sports audiences. As a result, opportunities for both female ex-athletes and female broadcasters to enter into the field continues to rise.

ane Chastain, Donna De Varona, and Jeannie Morris are considered the pioneers in female sports broadcasting (though in the 1930s and 40s,the wife of Harry Johnson, sports announcer for Central Sates Broadcasting in Omaha, Nebraska, would often provide her own commentary alongside her husband), each working for major news networks in the 1960s and 70s. Chastain became the first woman to work as a commentator for a major network (CBS) and is also considered the first woman to do sports play-by-play. Morris, an established journalist and writer prior to launching her sports reporting career, was recognized for covering the NFL Minnesota Vikings v. Chicago Bears game in the early 1970s outside in a blizzard, as she was not allowed to work in the press box because she was a woman. Later, while women were finally allowed to report from inside press boxes, often stadiums and sports arenas did not provide restroom facilities for female reporters, who were expected to use bathrooms designated for spectators.

Today, unfortunately, while the number of female sportscasters is on the rise, Karen Kornacki, sportscaster for KMBC-TV News in Kansas City, reveals that appearance still plays quite a role in such an image-driven business and culture as the sports world: “Looks are definitely starting to play a larger role,” Kornacki said. “The number one email I receive from my viewers are comments about my appearance. People are not concerned about my interviews or my knowledge of the game.” Still, she remans optimistic, arguing that “the challenge is to stick by your professionalism,” said Kornacki. “It is still a medium where you have to communicate. Our audience is sports savvy and they would be able to see right through you if you didn’t know your stuff.” Lesley Visser, the first female NFL analyst on TV and voted the number one female sportscaster in the US by the American Sportscasters Association, agrees, indicating that “The three most important things for a sportscaster are knowledge of the game, a passion for sports, and the profession, and the stamina to struggle.” So while female sports journalism is still considered young and novel to many sports fans and among sports commentators, female sportscasters are determined and will continue to convince the world that gender should not and does not affect an individual’s ability to report a story, regardless of its content, and report it well.