Anita Roddick "because she's worth it?"

Body Shop are being offered loads of money to sell out to L'oreal.
The Guardian wonder if Anita will sell out so she can spend the dosh on her campaigns and wildlife projects and they also pose interesting comparisons between the 2 organisations.
One of the Body Shop's trading standards is honesty about what the products can do for you.
"Anything which says it can magically take away your wrinkles is a scandalous lie" Anita Roddick says. Too bloody right!

IWD 06

International Women's Day 2006 is looming. In Staffordshire there are a few things going on - Froomblog lists the main things that I am aware of in Staffordshire. One that really interests me is the launch of the Women's mental health standards for Staffordshire. I cannot get to the event, but I will try to find out more and hope to post about it sometime.



What do you know of that's going on in your area? Are you involved in anything? I hope that by 2007 I am in a job or have time unpaid to take part in organising something in Stoke-on-Trent.

"Angels" at the top

The Observer has an interesting take on the idea of the "Angel in the House" - the stay at home "lady" of leisure whose reason for being is to look beautiful and serve her man. These women - The Guardian Angels have made it in the man's world of being leaders of large organisations.... of course the organisations are independent not-for-profit companies and forces for social change, the glass ceiling has risen up a notch......

The article is interesting for it's focus on their values and skills and simply for showing that it can be done - I see them as role models but I question the stereotype of feminity....

"women are more used to showing emotion and not seeing it as a weakness 'they don't find it difficult to combine passion and professionalism, and passion is absolutely essential in the voluntary sector'" says Jackie Ballard, director of the RSPCA.

Their pay is much higher than the average wage, but considering the large budgets and numbers of staff they are responsible for, unbelievably low compared to the men who manage organisations of equivalent size in the private sector, and compared to Chief Executive's of Local Authorities and the NHS. This interests me as those feminine traits are clearly less valued still - even if men hold the senior positions, voluntary organisations are unable to pay at similar levels to the public and private sector. I do not believe the huge salaries in some companies are justified either, but the inequalities speak volumes.


Maybe they are Angels in the Boardroom - but why Angels? I bet they are not perfect, heavenly beings.......