When our new website debuts in a couple of weeks, one of our new features will be our “Hot Topic,” where you can share what you think on a chosen topic. As a preview, read our editorial below on “What Happened with the Women of the Apprentice?” and if you’d like, email us with your thoughts. We may share some of them next week!

PERSPECTIVE: “What Happened with the Women of “The Apprentice?”

Not even Donald Trump himself might have dared predict that the first reality show where the competitors have to be career-oriented, and the prize is a job, would capture such widespread fascination. (We’re among the many who became addicted). Perhaps its success is not so surprising – after all, the idea of reality TV is that these Average Joes (oops, wrong show) could be any of us, our friends and colleagues — and most of us live daily a version of workplace drama of our own.

As the newest cultural phenomenon, “The Apprentice” has already sparked much discussion; in particular, much has been said about the women’s use of sexuality as a tactic. Were their micromini skirts and artful ability to bat eyelashes a confident post-feminist wielding of tools in their arsenal — or a major setback for serious-minded professional women everywhere? The debate continues (momentarily, at least). Yet what is striking is how this debate has eclipsed discussion about the one really big gender issue from the show: why were the women so decisively trouncing the men in the beginning — and yet WHY DID ONLY 1 WOMAN MAKE IT TO THE FINAL 5?

What happened with the women of “The Apprentice” may be the most unfortunately realistic aspect of a so-called reality show yet.

In the early weeks of the show, the original 16 competitors were divided into teams of “girls” and “guys.” Archaic as that division seemed, as the women rallied in those initial rounds with a much greater combination of savvy and teamwork than the guys, many of us female viewers could not help but cheer over what seemed to be a real Helen Reddy/ “Hear us Roar” moment emerging. At one point, Donald Trump commented that perhaps he should just hand off the grand prize job to one of the women then and there.

Ah, but then the tide turned. Did the men suddenly summon new resolve to compete more effectively? Perhaps. Yet what seemed more at the root of this turn in fortune was a downward spiral of self- destruction among the women. Self-confidence gave way to self-doubt. The women’s sense of passion turned into what was perceived, at least, as a much less favorable show of emotionalism. Teamwork gave way to stereotypical cattiness. And strategically, the strongest women sought to ally themselves, not as much with the other strong women, as with the other strong (or even not so strong) men. Meanwhile, the men appeared to approach the ratcheting competition with a sense of sport, maintaining their camaraderie while unapologetically continuing to fight for individual success.

More important than who sold the lemonade better, the case studies that will be inevitably derived from the show should be centered on THIS. While there are easily as many smart, well-educated, talented, accomplished women in the workforce today as men, when the career competition tightens, when the corporate pyramid narrows toward the top, there is still in the business world today a scarcity of women working sportingly and supportively with other women. Perhaps all those bumps on our head from that still- present glass ceiling can own some of the blame, but as a gender we need to take some of the responsibility onto ourselves as well to forge productive partnerships with our women peers, to mentor other women who are our juniors, and to cease the pattern of sabotage and self-sabotage that ultimately kept Trump’s prize-a top corporate job-out of the hands of a potentially quite capable woman. Next time, if they want to make it really interesting and true to life, perhaps one of the women might even be a mom!

WHAT DO YOU THINK? WE’D LOVE TO HEAR. REPLY TO THIS EMAIL TO SHARE ANY THOUGHTS YOU HAVE… AND WHEN OUR NEW SITE DEBUTS IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS, YOU’LL HAVE THE CHANCE TO REALLY DISCUSS AMONGST YOURSELVES!

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Sincerely,

Executive Moms