Comments on: Lunarpages Sits Down with WOW

By: Deb

Deb — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:50:22 +0000

How anyone can be offended by a sincere and truthful compliment to another is sad, sad, sad. Sounds like someone is insecure and unhappy. Feminism is chauvinism with different anatomical equipment. And I am a woman who came of age in the era of Gloria Steinem and Helen Gurley Brown, et al. Reality check: beauty is an asset, hello! But Angela’s accomplishments came about because of her business savvy, diligence, and persistence. The fact that she’s a pretty woman is a fact that does not need to be excluded from the interview; it does not undermine any of her credibility. Get real, people! Have you read any interviews of powerful men by male interviewers? They’ll mention his looks and grooming–maybe even his sex appeal–and nobody’s offended. Please, get a life. Angela’s the real deal. In fact, so are Sue and Jean and everyone I’ve ever had the privilege of corresponding with at WOW.

By: Robin

Robin — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 22:32:14 +0000

Two questions to ponder: 1)How extensive is the negative effect of one objectifying comment when it is blended into an interview which otherwise lifts up for admiration a hard working and acomplished professional colleague? My answer to this question is that the effect, while seemingly subtle, is pernicious. Sexism and its close cousin “looks-ism” drain off immense amounts of energy and confidence for those who don’t meet or fear they don’t meet beauty standards. Men as well as women are affected by this, but women much more so than men risk their health and spend $$$$$ to maintain a level of visual acceptibility, claiming that perfecting their make-up or altering their body gives them confidence. This is, of course, a false confidence. a house built on sand. Ironically, through the miracles of Photoshop, we all can, if we feel it is essential to success in cyberspace, post a “photo” of ourselves wherein we are “drop dead gorgeous.” (I am not implying this is the case with Angela.)
2) Is proffering a critique of such a blend an invitation to dialogue with a dollop of consciousness-raising or is it simply the creation of drama? My answer – It is speaking truth, and not everyone is ready to hear truth. Sexism persists in many forms in the U.S. today. Perhaps the most malignant form is internalized sexism. Check out Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters by Jessica Valenti and Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics by bell hooks. Then we’ll talk. Civilly. Recognizing we may not agree on everything

By: Danette Haworth

Danette Haworth — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 22:08:52 +0000

Tiara,

I’m a regular reader of WOW! and your interview is a great article and an excellent summary with many useful links. And yes, Angela is very pretty!

By: Gina

Gina — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:40:59 +0000

Thanks so much for such a well-done piece! So thought provoking as to stir emotions, so informative as to edge even those of us interested and intimidated by both technology, and writing on to test ourselves! I found the diversity and debate to be both revealing and enriching!

By: Tiara

Tiara — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:11:25 +0000

lol I’ll leave that to you, Amy — I’d rather interview Dan Radcliffe or Christopher Meloni personally, and if I did happen to interview either of them, I’d probably have said they were drop-dead gorgeous too.

Laura, great point — one thing I was so pleased with was the fact that her SEO tips were so newbie-friendly. I’m glad they can inspire even technophobes to go out and try something new!

By: amy

amy — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:18:38 +0000

Hey, you should interview George Clooney..

Ummm… OK I guess I’ll put my hand up for that one

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:25:08 +0000

Dear Tiara,

Thanks for this terrific interview. I, too, appreciate the discussion here about beauty and feminism. Of course, Angela is “drop-dead gorgeous”! Would you have said that of a man? Maybe. Hey, you should interview George Clooney . . .

Anyway, what astounded me here was the intelligence of the interview. I’m one of those technophobes, but here I can begin to learn how to access the power of the web. Angela gives excellent tips, and you elicit those tips beautifully.

By: Deverill

Deverill — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:00:26 +0000

Great interview Tiara and grats to Angela for making her successful 1st year into an ongoing and on-growing endeavor.

Why does it have to be about female/male at all? Not to dismiss the fact that IT is male-dominated, but wouldn’t there be less sexism if we focused on “Angela is a great success and a hard worker” more than “Angela has succeeded in the male-dominated world of IT”? After all, that comment itself is sexist – not untrue about the field, but it does differentiate between the sexes.

Just as saying “Joe is my African-American friend” could be commended for the pc term “African-American” it is racist in itself because “Joe is my friend.” His skin color is irrelevant unless you are describing him to someone so they can recognize him in a crowd.

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:03:16 +0000

Hi Ladies,

Boy, a lot of ‘interesting’ conversation has been sparked here! I always love it when something provokes discussion. And thanks ladies for the sweet compliments.

I just wanted to say that Tiara did a wonderful job interviewing me – I had a blast! It’s my favorite interview yet! Not only did she ask though-provoking questions, but she did a super job of editing my rambling words (I’m a writer, ya know). And editing an interview to make it flow together and bring out a theme, or focus is half the interview. Well done.

Thanks Tiara and lunarpages for having me. I sincerely enjoyed it!

Warmest,

Angela

By: Sally Franklin Christie

Sally Franklin Christie — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:22:29 +0000

I saw a very informative and positve article. It seems to have brought out the editor in a lot of readers. Now, a single comment is being given treatment similar to tabloid press. Shame on us, aren’t we better than that? Congrats to Wow on their first birthday and thanks for the nice article.

By: Tiara

Tiara — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 23:15:30 +0000

Awww Annette that was so lovely!! I know Angela will love to hear your compliments — she is definitely one of the kindest and most hardworking women I am privileged to know

By: Annette

Annette — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:15:22 +0000

I was excited to read this article when Jean sent me the link for it. Being an author, and the total technotard that I am, I thought Angela provided incredible information about SEO–info which I plan to copy and save for use on my book website when it’s finally up and running. And though I already knew the story about WOW!, reading about how hard she worked and how much thought she put into developing such an amazing resource for women still makes me proud to say that I know her. She’s a creative genius. I also think Tiara did a great job interviewing Angela.

I was really disappointed when I read the comments posted here–a ton of comments from women with their panties in a bunch about one, single, random comment about beauty. As far as I’m concerned, that’s pathetic. Let’s focus on the important thing here, ladies. Instead, we should be cyber-celebrating a great woman who has used her intellect, vision, design skills, and heart to create an amazing online community for women writers and in doing so, has forged ground in a male-dominated technical field.

As for Angela’s beauty, take a look at her picture again and I’ll tell you what you missed seeing the first time. The smile is completely genuine, just like she is. Her eyes are kind, another of her amazing traits. Her posture is unassuming because she is totally self-less and humble. She’s a woman who would give her “trendy, homespun 70’s” shirt right off her back to help any of you if you asked because that’s just the way she is. Is she beautiful? Absolutely. Because everything from her inside shines through to the outside. That’s true beauty, and it’s about more than aesthetics.

Check your ugly at the door and go read the interview again.