According to what I've read, Kate gets passed up for a promotion because she is single. Ad agencies (and other businesses, for that matter) don't actually do this, don't they? I'm going to be working in advertising, and I would rather be single. Please tell me I'm just being paranoid.
"I do not like bombs that go blam! I do not like them, Saddam-I-Am!"share
- Wil Anderson
I don't really know but it seems unlikely.
It's interesting though that this plot device is also used in the sitcom Ned and Stacey, where Ned the advertising executive has to get married so that he can secure a promotion.
It was also used in Sex and the City where Miranda doesn't get invited to the corporate events because she doesn't have a man to take with her.
shareIt's illegal to discriminate like that, and the boss is an idiot to tell her all that (hello, lawsuit). But I've seen discrimination against single people before. The married with kids guy heads out the door for little league and the single shmo has to stay behind to pick up the slack kinda thing.
shareIt's illegal to discriminate like that, and the boss is an idiot to tell her all that (hello, lawsuit).
Actually, it's more likely the other way around. People get penalized in high-commitment firms (law, investment, etc) when their work is affected by their family obligations like Little League. Single employees are also more likely to be promoted because they have more time to give to their work. In law especially (this is the field I hope to be in), your chances of getting promoted (like to partner!!!!) is correlated to your marital status. Married people (in general, it's more women than men) are passed over for promotions because they just don't have the time to commit to their work compared to what single people can contribute.
shareI don't think it was so much her being single that caused her to be passed over for promotions. The boss seemed to have a problem with her not having a mortgage or an expensive car which he felt would have tied her down to her job at his company so she can pay for it all. Since all she had was an apartment, the boss was afraid she'd have nothing to lose by taking a job elsewhere.
It's kind of stupid of him to feel that way because his employees with the big mortgages and car payments can actually have more of an incentive to leave his company for a higher paying job to pay for all their stuff.
To be honest, I've always thought about this whole bit when contemplating corporate politics. If you've got a lot of indebtedness, big mortgages, car payments, kids, whatever, you're more locked into a job than someone who doesn't have those sorts of financial responsibilities. You're a lot less likely to gamble on a new job if you've got a decent deal somewhere already. You might be tempted to look elsewhere, but corporate bigwigs know you're not going to flit from job to job unless it's a REALLY good, stable offer.
shareNo, it is illegal to do that, however, it happens all the time just like people lose jobs because of their age, race, religion or gender.
I know that if a woman is going for an interview with a company..........they CAN NOT ask her if when and if she plans to have children. Companies only want to put the time and committment into someone who is going to dedicate themselves to the place they work for and of course leaving the work place to have children is not part of their plan.
Like I said, it is illegal to ask those type of questions, however, I will warn you that empolyers have other ways of trying to find out that information so be careful.
Legality aside, such things happen especially in advertising agencies. Some is going to get offended, but most ad agencies have no real competitive advantage. Meaning, they are all the same offering the same kind of services.
In those days, clients spent through ad agencies. So, it is very much about which ad company they are more comfortable with. If they are comfortable dealing with a particular agency, they can have a business relationship for many years.
So, in order to make clients more comfortable, an attractive young executive lady does play a major role. In mean it is pleasing to the eye to have attractive executives coming to your company regularly for meetings.
These executives are powerful enough to bring the clients with them should they go to a new company or set up their own. So, management typically treat them like jewel. In a way, it is better that they remain single. They will demand less salary and be more flexible at work.
I wonder if it was also because of how she dressed at the beginning. She didn't look like a person in advertising.
shareHappens all the time...they walk you out the car to see if you have car seats in your car... or if you ave a ton of "club stickers" meaning you are too invovled with kids stuff... Once right out of school I had a guy walk out with me saw I was driving a cadaliac and said " I dont think you would be a good fit for us"
shareThis is classic gender discrimination. If she were married they'd pass her over because she might get pregnant; since she's single, they're passing her over because she's considered a flight risk. Oh please.
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