Jezebel: becky quick

Yes, Idiot, It Is Harder To Be A Woman Than A Man

Moe — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:30:00 EDT

How can you say it's easier to be a man than to be a woman? What data do you have to support such a position? That's the type of mail you get when you write something for a news outlet other than Jezebel, and I thought fondly of it today when I read the latest from Wall Street, where Lehman Brothers chief financial officer Erin Callan, a Harvard-educated attorney known for "speaking more clearly and revealing more financial data than most Wall Street CFOs" all while wearing five-inch stilettos, had been demoted after seven months in the job, some internet pundit just skewered CNBC anchor Maria "Money Honey" Bartiromo for her "hysterical" statements on tax policy and her collagen injections, and Marie Claire just interviewed CNBC anchor Becky Quick about her wardrobe. "Nothing less than impeccable is what flies on Wall Street," she told the magazine. "If your lipstick's a mess or your skirt is too trendy, it instantly devalues you." Yup, devalues.

Like rampant fiscal irresponsibility to the greenback! Which leads me to a stupid but maybe-accurate metaphor that brings into account Maria Bartriomo's opinions on tax policy. Maria Bartiromo argues that people who make $200,000 shouldn't be necessarily described as "rich." This is because she lives in New York, but also because she must abide by the paradox that dictates that successful females invest not only colossal sums of money but roughly two hours extra daily simply to avoid the appearance of being "devalued." Of course, that investment, which is not optional, carries with it not only tremendous opportunity cost, which is devaluing in its own way, but the additional degradation of scrutiny and/or mockery re the process itself (Callan's heels, Bartiromo's Botox) and the additional nuisances of the Boy's Club, sexual harassment etc. It almost makes you want to just have kids and freelance and endure the contempt of people like Linda Hirshman, which is all fine and good, but after all that you're still stuck getting your period. So basically you're screwed either way and no wonder we are all programmed to be somewhat lesbian.

Callan, Gregory Out At Lehman [WSJ]
Becky Quick Teaches You How To "Dress Like A Financier" [Dealbreaker]

Elle Investigates The Tyranny Of Paula Zahn Highlights

Moe — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:20:14 EDT

Elle runs an "investigation" of the television media in its November issue that reveals something that will surprise maybe that class of people who ever looked up "gullible" in the dictionary: female news anchors are often pressured to dye their hair. Specifically: blonde. The story opens with the traumatic dye job of fledgling anchorwoman Laura Wells, a trip to the colorist that turns out to be something of a rite-of-passage in television news!

I feel like I"m having low-level plastic surgery," Wells says, mournfully twisting a strand of her naturally deep-russet mane.

Oh good grief, I thought. Maybe if not every woman in the world with hair a shade lighter than Penelope Cruz's did not seem to feel compelled to cough up a few grand a year so as to make her hair look rigorously "sun-kissed" or whatever, I would be shocked by this. But no, for years my own mother has pleaded with me to get them — she'll totally pay! — for no public reason other than the very occasional appearance at church.

WHICH made me think, what is it with highlights? Is it the white women's way of competing with Tyra's weave? Or maybe of approaching greater understanding of the true pain in the ass that is the endless struggle to achieve the Aryan beauty ideal? Or do they actually look good? (I mean, when Becky Quick first dyed her hair I thought it looked awful and now I kind of think it's hot.) So confused!

Finance Roundup: It's A Lot Easier To Be Thin When You Are Rich: Our Personal Finance Roundup

Moe — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 15:17:54 EDT

Skip lunch, read these articles and kill two birds! As we went to press it was a kinda-whatever day in the markets, allegedly on bad home sales data — no surprise to all you readers whose minds are so deadened and perfume-addled from the April glossy gluttony that you shirked your womanly duties to read The Economist last weekend! Well yeah, that's probably just us. In the future, we'll post the internet's most fun financial stories here. Basically, because we need a break from Tyra.

Lazy and carb avoidance go together like bleu cheese and bacon! The prepared salad business ventures close to $3 billion. [WSJ]
Forbes is launching a business magazine—for women! And to prove how seriously they take us as an audience, they've tapped the editor of Four Seasons Magazine to run it! [New York Post]
A new business book examines the implications of private labels like H&M, Trader Joe's and Zara on "brands" like Ralph Lauren, Safeway and presumably, Tila Tequila [LA Times]

It's a Win-Win-Win For the Gender! Flouting the conventional wisdom that Maria Bartiromo is the hottest woman on CNBC, a blogger is conducting a strange experiment to see who readers think is the real Money Honey. [Opposite George]