Weekly News Update

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  • Racked looks at how many police uniforms (and bulletproof vests) aren't designed with women in mind, affecting officers' safety and their ability to do the job.
  • The New York Times talks to the creators of the Swivel app, which connects black and Hispanic women to salons who provide the services they want and know how to care of their hair.
  • Attn: made a video about the pocket-less state of much of women's clothing.
  • Fashionista says that Coach has transformed from a “staid mall brand to one of the buzziest labels on the calendar.”
  • Law Sites introduces you to the new keyboard for lawyers, the LegalBoard, which made its debut at CES this week.
  • Harvard Business Review shares the results of a series of studies involving mock resumes sent to law firms. They found that “elite employers discriminate strongly based on social class, favoring applicants from higher-class backgrounds [and that] coming from an advantaged social background helps only men.”
  • CNBC [autoplay video] shows the mind-mapping strategy of Google career coach Jenny Blake.
  • The Atlantic shares “The Ambition Interviews,” essays by Hana Schank and Elizabeth Wallace about their former Northwestern classmates and what they're doing now, years later.
  • The New York Times looks into why women only make up 16% of the top 1% of earners and 11% of the top 0.1%.
  • The New Yorker talks to Baby-Sitters Club author Ann M. Martin.
  • New York magazine's The Cut collected some of Carrie Fisher's best quotes, and BuzzFeed rounded up some tweets paying tribute to her.

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29 Comments

  1. Ah, I’ve been meaning to mention it — the “Ambition Interviews” were a really fascinating series. I couldn’t stop reading one after the other. Highly recommend!

    1. I read that — but don’t forget they were coming from second tier schools. So there’s already a stigma that people goofed off in undergrad, particularly if you’re coming from money and obviously didn’t choose the second tier school for a scholarship. So maybe the lesson is, if you’re a rich woman who can’t get into a top tier school, don’t put “sailing” on your resume?

      1. This seems like an awfully roundabout way of justifying discrimination. ALL the fake candidates came from second-tier schools. There is no legit reason to distinguish James from Julia in that situation. (Or James who ran track from Julia who went sailing, either.)

      2. But with ALL of them coming from second tier schools, the privileged men were statistically more likely to get the position.

        Anon, how do you justify that ALL are seen as goofoffs, yet privileged men still benefitted disproportionately?

        As an early 30s married woman with no kids by choice, someone who went to the Ivy League on scholarship, its very disheartening to read.

      3. While you are right in this study they came from second tier schools – I would argue (from experience) the committment penalty also exists in 1st tier as well.

  2. So in today’s edition of what happens when you elect a jerk – apparently Trump has totally broken with precedent and ordered all the ambassadors and their families home by inauguration.

    His kid can’t move from NY to DC until June but everybody else’s kid need to move half way around the world on two weeks notice? Seems fair. Sigh.

      1. Well, this article is from December 3, 2008. So Obama gave them nearly two months’ notice.

      2. Not at all. Traditional practice from BOTH parties is to allow transition time, especially for families with school aged children.

        1. Adding that apparently the Costa Rican ambassador has 4 kids and a wife with breast cancer. I’m sure that’s an easy move compared to NY to DC with one kid….

          1. To be fair– I think Melania staying with Barron in NYC is great. Do what is best for your kid. I don’t think it’s at all relevant whether the two of them come to DC, how soon, etc. Although I DO think the Trumps should be offsetting some of the extra security cost to have them in Trump Tower (and not profiting from the Secret Service renting space).

          2. I think it’s great that they are staying if that’s what’s best for their kid. But – I also think it is relevant to the public discourse if the President-elect makes that choice for his own family but breaks with years of precedent for ambassadors and does not allow children to finish the school year/some shorter period to make arrangements.

            They got less than a month’s notice that standard practice for ambassadors with school aged children would not be followed.

      3. The difference is that Trump is recalling all ambassadors, not just the “politically appointed” ones. We’re talking Foreign Services Officers with years of experience and establishing in-country ties (most ambassadors are foreign service officers, but often other posts are given to friends and contributors of the president). That’s generally not done.

    1. I reread the entire series in 2015 as a personal challenge. I still love them so much.

      1. Have you read the California Diaries? I realized a few years ago that they existed and bought a set on eBay.

    2. I loved the Baby-Sitters Club growing up and that article made me tear up, especially the part where she said Kristy was a younger Hillary and that the future she envisioned for her was being the *second* female president of the US. #stillwithher

  3. Thank you for the article on law enforcement wear. I can’t believe it has taken this long. I have worn men’s uniform pants and I have worn a man’s bullet proof vest that squished my boobs. My friend is at a federal agency that is apparently doing personalized fittings for vests now which is amazing.

    1. I just read it– so interesting! Thank you for your hard work and public service.

  4. I was disappointed the Ambition Interviews completely excluded women who opted out of having children and the challenges they face in life and with marriage. The 2004 census documented half of women making more than 100K are without children, and around 20% of women over 40. I tried reading the first essay to see how many of her sorority sisters (the chosen sample) were without children but it was difficult to determine.

  5. I used to stalk Victoria’s Secret, waiting for the few bra tops that weren’t low cut to go on sale. They are such a convenient, easy thing to wear! For years I didn’t need anything, as long as my top was thick enough, but these days, I need a little something. Still hate the feel of an entire bra, so a shirt with built-in shelf bra is perfect.

    VS has discontinued those entirely, nearly a year ago so they’re not available at outlet type places either.

    Where else can I get an office-appropriate top with shelf bra for not too much money?

  6. The only buzzing I’m doing about Coach is in irritation. Doesn’t matter what kind of bag you have, or what the guarantee was when you bought it; they now offer free repairs for the first year only. Isn’t their high price partially justified by that formerly standard warranty? The one I own will be my last.

    1. I love Coach! Just go to a Company store with your bag, and be LOUD and they will quickley fix your probelem, usueally by offering you a NEW replacement! I had a beautiful Coach bag where Rosa’s dog chewed through the strap. I had left the bag hanging off the bed where the dog got to it. B/c it was such high quality leather, the dog thought it was a Chew Bone. When I showed it to Coach, they said they would replace the strap, and they did ON THE SPOT! YAY for Coach!

    2. I’m confused about why that article was posted- it’s clearly just native advertising, not any sort of objective assessment about Coach’s perception or quality changing, right?

  7. As someone who has spent plenty of time in body armor overseas, that stuff about bulletproof vests not fitting women is no exaggeration. They are made to fit a man’s chest. If you get one that fits your b**bs, unless you are a very tall woman, it will be too long, coming down over the top of your hips and impeding your mobility.

    Besides being dangerous for obvious reasons, this is a daily degradation. I went from being the fastest walker I know to struggling to keep up. They make women look like we can’t pull our weight.

  8. I hope that the Swivel app will expand to other areas in the future. It such a great idea of connecting women to good stylist especially if you are new to an area.

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