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What Do Businesswomen Want? More Shoes, Sez the Wall Street Journal

Oh, dear. I'm not sure my little lady brain can take it, but the Wall Street Journal has created a new page on its website specifically aimed at women. While thankfully the site isn't designed in a Sex and the City shade of pink, it's full of stereotypically female things like shoes, fashion, dieting, and Bonnie Fuller.

While the page does have a few interesting articles, like one on how the termination of your pregnancy may coincide with the termination of your job, the entire idea of a separate ladies section of the Journal is a bit problematic. Doesn't it sort of imply that the big, bad, serious sections of the newspaper are for the big boys? That women aren't interested in scary, manly topics like quarterly earnings or industry mergers? Channeling Carrie Bradshaw, I couldn't help but wonder: can't you have a vagina and a brain too?

I think the tone of the page answers some of those questions. There's an article on "Putting an End to Mindless Munching," another on "Decolletage at a Work Dinner," and the kicker, "High on Heels: How Shoes Affect the Juggle." The last article is a blog post on how high heels look great at the office, but hurt your feet. This is news? Come on, Rupert, we expect better, even from you.

Comments

no insitution is destroying america more than wall street. they run many corporations and running them in the ground with short term gains at the risk of long term survival.

greed is good wall street and the journal is a reflecton of that greed is good mentality.

karma time in america.

one dollar equals .63 euro.

go socialism destroy this capitalism that is destroying america.

capitalism must self destruct like communism did.

with communism man exploits man with capitalism it is the other way around.

must find middle ecomonic path.

Posted by: researcher on 05/22/08 at 1:22 AM Respond

The WSJ section has articles that most(but not all) women are concerned about in their day to day living. That is what life is about. Politics is only a burden for a few.

Posted by: Betty on 05/22/08 at 6:09 AM Respond

LOL give the man time. If you think the most egregious change to the Journal will be a ladies section, you are impatient and unimaginative. And Betty, I couldn't agree more! Personally I get all my Wall Street news from Ladies Home Journal. "Fashionable shoes is only a burden for a few." Let 'em read the journal right?

Posted by: Justin on 05/22/08 at 6:19 AM Respond

Betty - people read the WSJ for business, not for day to day living (unless your day to day living includes tracking stocks). There is a glut of women's magazines aimed at daily life - the WSJ isn't filling a void. I imagine they created the section because they want to increase their female readership and this was the best they could come up with, but from my perspective they should toss the section before they drive away their current female readership to a business news source that doesn't treat them like idiots.

Posted by: JP on 05/22/08 at 8:20 AM Respond

JP, you have an "idiot" attitude. You know nothing of what most women want.

Posted by: Betty on 05/22/08 at 10:21 AM Respond

Well, so far there are more voices on Jen's side of the argument than yours. You got anything to back up your assertion that you know what most women want, Betty?

Posted by: JP on 05/22/08 at 1:33 PM Respond

I think they took their cue from the New York Times, who now puts even real news about women into its soft "for the ladies" section. I have to pinch myself to stop thinking we're back in 1973.

Posted by: Diane on 05/25/08 at 9:01 PM Respond