There is an older blog post (from January 2010) that keeps making the rounds via the web.

“A Rant About Women” by Clay Shirky is based on the premise that women are not self-promotional, which holds us back. He quotes a magazine editor who tells a friend of his that men promote themselves all the time, but women wait for people to take notice.

He goes on to say that, in order for us to be treated equally, we must be forceful and self-confident. He says:

It’s tempting to imagine that women could be forceful and self-confident without being arrogant or jerky, but that’s a false hope, because it’s other people who get to decide when they think you’re a jerk, and trying to stay under that threshold means giving those people veto power over your actions.

And therein lies the problem. When we act like men, we’re seen as the word that begins with a B… you know, another name for a female dog. But if we act like women, we’re not going to get ahead. (more…)