对女强人的十大误解

No. 1: Ice Queen

误解一：女强人都是冰皇后

Halley Bock, CEO of leadership and development training company Fierce, notes that the ruthless “ice queen” stereotype is rampant. Cultural depictions, like frigid magazine editor Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada (and her real-world counterpart Anna Wintour of Vogue) and back-stabbing boss Patty Hewes on Damages, paint successful women as unsympathetic power-mongers. It is, of course, a Catch-22. “A woman who shows emotion in the workplace is often cast as too fragile or unstable to lead,” Bock said. “A woman who shows no emotion and keeps it hyper-professional is icy and unfeminine. For many women, it can be a no-win situation.”

海利•伯克说，很多人都把成功女性看做冷酷无情的“冰皇后”.在影视文化作品中，成功女性被描绘成没有同情心，只知道追求权力的形象，比如《穿普拉达的恶魔》一片中的杂志主编米兰达(其原型是时尚杂志《Vogue》的主编温图尔)，还有法律悬疑剧《裂痕》中暗箭伤人的老板帕蒂-海渥丝。这是一种悖论，“女性如果在工作场合表现出个人情感，会被看做脆弱不可信任，如果不在工作中掺杂个人情感，表现的非常职业，又会被人说是缺乏温柔冷冰冰。对很多女性来说，无论怎样做都不讨好。”

No. 2: Single and Lonely

误解二：女强人既孤单又寂寞

Harvard lecturer Olivia Fox Cabane notes that the strong perception that powerful women are intimidating to men and will need to sacrifice their personal lives may stop women from going after power. Even those women who aren’t interested in marrying, face harsh judgments. Men get to be “bachelors” while women are reduced to “spinsters” and “old-maids.” In fact, when Janet Napolitano was nominated Secretary of Homeland Security, critics said her being single would allow her to “spend more time on the job.”

哈佛大学讲师奥利维亚福克斯指出，“成功女性会令男性望而却步，而且要牺牲个人生活”的普遍观念，可能会使得女性停止追求事业上的成功。即便有的女性对婚姻不感兴趣，也会面对尖刻的评论。那些未婚的男性被称作“单身汉”，而未婚的女性会被称作“老处女”或“老妈子”。事实上，当纳波利塔诺被提名国土安全局局长时，有评论讽刺她说，单身的她会有更多时间用于工作。

No. 3: Tough

误解三：女强人都是强硬派

The first female Executive Editor of The New York Times, Jill Abramson is anything but stereotypical. She had a hard-charging career as an investigative reporter at The Wall Street Journal and edited her way to the top of the Times masthead. She’s also a true-blood New Yorker and is writing a book about puppies. Despite her complexities, she must contend with being called “tough” and “brusque,” making the “she’s-tough stereotype” her least favorite. Said Abramson: “As an investigative reporter, I had tough standards and a formidable way of framing and reporting stories, but I don’t think of myself as a tough person.”

吉尔•艾布拉姆森是《纽约时报》的第一位女主编，她绝不是刻板之人。吉尔曾做过华尔街日报调查记者，她按照自己的想法来编辑时报刊头。她也是一个地道的纽约人，目前正在写一本关于小狗的书。有很多词都可以用来形容她，但吉尔最不喜欢的词就是“强硬”和“粗暴”，她说：“作为一个调查记者，我对撰写报道有严格 的标准要求，但我不认为自己是一个强硬之人。”

No. 4: Weak

误解四：“软弱”你的名字叫女人

Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla, the country’s first female leader, told me that successful women face typecasting largely because society is still adjusting to women’s recent decision-making power. Chinchilla believes the most pervasive stereotype is that women are “weak,” a perception that may stem from women’s greater desire to build a consensus. “We understand success not as the result of just one person but as the result of a team,” she said. “[It’s a] different way of dealing with power [that] is misunderstood as a kind of weakness.”

哥斯达黎加总统劳拉•钦奇利亚是该国的第一位女性领导人。她说成功女性之所以受刻板印象困扰，是因为这个社会还没有适应女性掌管权力。她认为最普遍的刻板印象是：女性都很“软弱”，人们之所以会有这种想法，可能是女性更愿意作出妥协达成共识。“女性更愿意追求团队的成功，而不是个人胜利。”她说，“把这种处理权力的方式看做软弱，是对女性的误解。”

No. 5: Masculine

误解五：“巾帼”必须男子气十足

The notion that powerful women must be, lead and look like a man really aggravates Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund. In a video interview with FORBES she said–pumping her fist–she hates the idea that “you have to look like a businessman.” She admitted she sometimes feels the pressure to look the “right” way, but tries to resist not being “overly businesslike.”

成功女性行事要有男子气概——这一说法令国际货币基金组织总裁拉加德大为光火。在福布斯的视频采访中，她挥舞着拳说她痛恨“必须打扮成商人模样”这一说法。她承认自己有时会感受到“得体着装”的压力，但她尽量不打扮的“过于务实”。

No. 6: Conniving

误解六：女人要靠“潜规则”

When NBC’s Curry first started her career, she was told she couldn’t be a news reporter because women had “no news judgment.” Now, she’s at the top of her game and says the stereotype that most offends her is “the idea that a woman can only be successful because she somehow connived or engineered her rise–that she could not rise simply because she was too good to be denied.” She has experienced it herself, saying that she gets asked if she “forced” NBC to give her the anchor job or if there was a “backroom deal.” Curry told me, “I find it really annoying.”

当NBC电视台 的库里刚开始她的职业生涯时，别人说她不可能成为一名新闻记者，因为女性“没有新闻头脑”。现在，她已经成为一名顶尖的新闻记者。她说最令她生气的说法是“一个女性之所以能成功，靠的是潜规则，而不是她出色的工作能力。” 她自己就有这样的经历，有人问她是不是“强迫”电视台给她新闻主播的工作，或者有没有“幕后交易”。库里说道：“这种说法实在令人恼火。”

No. 7: Emotional

误解七：女人容易情绪化

Ellen Lubin-Sherman, executive coach and author of business guide The Essentials of Fabulous, believes one the most dangerous stereotypes female leaders will face is that they are prone toemotional outbursts. Despite Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s consistent cool-headed demeanor, when she teared up on the campaign trail, the media pounced. Similarly, former Yahoo Chief Carol Bartz is frequently cited for her “salty language,” which has been used as evidence that she is “emotional” and a “loose cannon.”

埃伦•鲁宾•谢尔曼商业指导《完美要素》的作者和导师，在她看来，人们普遍认为女性领导人容易受到情绪影响。尽管国务卿希拉里•克林顿一向行事冷静，当她在竞选案中落泪时，媒体们一拥而上大做文章。同样，人们说起前雅虎首席执行官卡罗尔•巴茨时常提到她的“不文明用语”，正因如此，人们把她看做是一个“情绪化的”“定时炸弹”。

No. 8: Angry

误解八：女人岂能“愤怒”

“Anger is a sign of status in men, but when women show anger they are viewed as less competent,” said Young. First Lady Michelle Obama was condemned as an “angry black woman” when she was campaigning for her husband in the 2008 presidential election. The Harvard-trained lawyer conscientiously softened her image and speeches in order to be more “likable,” becoming better known for her fashion and her unending support of her husband than for her stance on political issues.“

愤怒是男性的专利，人们不能接受女性表现出愤怒的一面。”杨说。2008年，米歇尔•奥巴马为丈夫的总统竞选造势时，这位第一夫人曾被谴责为“愤怒的黑人妇女”。后来，这位哈佛大学毕业的律师柔化自己的形象和演讲，变得更加“讨人喜欢”，突出表现自己的时尚品味和对丈夫的支持，而不是政治立场。

No. 9: A Token

误解九：女人都是“花瓶”摆设

Women hold just 16% of corporate board seats. But instead of focusing on balancing things out, they are often devalued as being a “token” of diversity rather than having earned the post. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was often the only woman in the room, but her gender didn’t get her there. “While companies take their diversity goals seriously, they are not going to settle for less than the best person for the job,” said Lynne Sarikas, director of the MBA career center at Northeastern University. “Women are hired because of their education and experience and what they can do for the company.”

女性在公司董事会所占席位只有总数的16%。人们并不关注女性在董事会所占比例过少这一事实，反而贬低董事会女性，认为她们之所以位列董事，不是因为她们的才能，她们只不过是公司出于多元化考虑而摆设的花瓶。美国前国务卿赖斯经常是重要场合里唯一的女性，她能胜任这一职位，靠的可不是她的性别。“即便公司真的是出于多元化考虑，但最终还是会选择最适合这个职位的雇员。”美国东北大学MBA就业指导中心主任林恩说，“女性被录用是因为她们的教育背景和职业经历，以及她们所能为公司做出的贡献。”

No. 10: A Cheerleader

误解十：女强人如同“啦啦队长”

Billie Blair, president and CEO of Change Strategists, notes that prominent women who are considered feminine and warm may be dismissed as “cheerleaders” rather than the strong leaders that they are. When former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was running for VP, Blair was amazed to hear a male client describe her as “a cheerleader, not a coach nor a quarterback.”

战略家公司总裁兼首席执行官比利•布莱尔指出，温柔热情的成功女性常被看做是啦啦队长，而不是杰出的领导者。前阿拉斯加州州长佩林竞选副总统时，布莱尔很惊讶的听到一个男客户形容佩林“是一个啦啦队长，而不是一个教练，也不是四分卫。”