Hillary Sexism Watch: Management Edition

From a New York Times article today:

For much of her career, Mrs. Clinton served in largely advisory or collaborative management roles — as a law firm partner, as chairwoman of the board at the nonprofit Children’s Defense Fund and as a director of three public corporations.

Since when are law firm partner, chairman of the board, and director of a corporation “largely advisory or collaborative roles”? Oh, that’s right, when they’re held by women.
In this article, the Times expends nearly 2,000 words on Hillary Clinton’s management style — mostly comparing it to the less-strict attitude of her husband. And it occurs to me that one way women get ahead in business (and in the business of politics) is to be way more organized and generally more on top of their shit than male managers. As a female editor recently put it, one of the best ways around sexism in journalism is to just do an absolutely phenomenal job in all your work. Be twice as good, and maybe you’ll be treated as an equal.
Also, when you’re trying to establish yourself as a leader or an authority, men have the luxury of being chummy. Women, all too often, do not. (Insert “ball-busting bitch” stereotype here…) They might have a great sense of humor, but many have learned through experience that it won’t get them anywhere. To be sure, the no-nonsense female boss is slowly becoming less prevalent (to a point where I’m not sure women are more “serious” in the workplace than men anymore), but I think some women — mostly those who came up through the ranks in the ’80s and early ’90s — still assert their authority this way.
When I read about Hillary’s management style, and when I see in the debates that she knows her stuff backwards and forwards, I see echoes of female bosses and editors — especially those who came up through the ranks a few decades ago — who know every single talking point, who leave no detail unaccounted for, who had to be twice as good to be treated as equals. In my mind, that type of president would be a welcome departure from the bumbling, sloppy, nicknaming, joke-cracking demeanor of George W. Bush. But I also know that there are a lot of men (and a few women) in this world whose greatest fear is to have to work for a woman who’s strict, competent, and all business. And I’ll be interested to see if that affects how they cast their votes.