At Grace Hopper a couple of years ago, I attended a panel of women CEOs who talked about the difficulties of being a woman and running a company (the difficulties ranged from not being seen as authoritative in the workplace to figuring out how to be a good parent when the company was on fire; the solutions ranged from "here's what you do" to "I have no idea how to solve this one").

That panel was interesting and useful.

I would like to think that this event is similarly interesting and useful. However, the agenda is pink and the keynote is "the girls' guide to building a million dollar business". Which makes me worry that the advice will be along the lines of "if you aren't seen as authoritative, wear high heels so you appear taller."

Sigh. This is really infuriating. Because women are put into the hard position of being seen as either bitchy for not gracefully accepting a compliment or as complicit in the view of women as objects.

Quoted: A Media Matters review of Matthews' MSNBC commentary found that, in particular, Matthews frequently comments on the physical appearances of his female guests and of other women discussed on his program.

Quoted: The Olympic Committee says it’s banned because too few athletes participate in the event and it lacks a world championships, and not because of the whole, “women-should-stay-in-the-kitchen-where-they-belong” thing.

I ponder.

Quoted: Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House.