100 Most Powerful Women in the World |
On August 30, Forbes magazine published its annual list of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World . An examination of this list provides some interesting insights into both how women wield power in the early 21st century and perceptions of that power in traditional, male-dominated American media. As edifying as it is to consider the women on the list, it is also essential to think about why the women who were left off the list were not included by the editors of Forbes. For the most part, the women the magazine serves up as examples of female power fit into a conservative Western model, with the list heavily dominated by American women and by women whose power comes through achievement in private business and national politics. Women from developing nations and women who exercise their power through non-traditional means are all but ignored. This begs the question: is the power these women have less real, or less important, than that of the women who are included, or is it just not recognized as readily by an institution like Forbes?
Nearly half of the women Forbes lists hail from the United States. Europe is represented by nearly a quarter of the women (including the top of the list, German Chancellor Angela Merkel). The remainder of the list (slightly more than a quarter) is comprised of women from the rest of the world. Forbes does not include a single woman from several countries generally considered world leaders in women’s issues, including Canada, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Sri Lanka. Women from Africa and Latin America are also largely overlooked, with just three African women included, and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, at number 27, the only Latin American woman listed.
A look at the positions held by the women on the list gives some explanation of the overrepresentation of American and European women. Two thirds of them are executives or chairs (called chairmen by Forbes without any hint of irony) of private businesses. The highest ranking of these is Ho Ching, Chief executive of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, at number three, but the majority are American. Eleven women are leaders of state (a chancellor, two queens, three prime ministers, and five presidents), and another twelve are other national level political officials. A handful (again, mostly American) work in the media, but the list gives higher billing to Today show host Meredith Vieira (number 55), Good Morning America co-anchor Diane Sawyer (number 62), and CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric (63) than CNN’s chief international correspondent Christine Amanpour (number 74).
Aside from journalists, few women on the list represent means of power stemming from neither national government nor private business: Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, is, at number 24, the list’s sole member of the non-profit community. Number 47 Drew Gilpin Faust, the president of Harvard University, is the only educator listed. International organizations are represented only by number 37, World Health Organization director general Margaret Chan. No room is found on the list for women scientists, writers, artists, organizers, or activists. There is a spot, however, for Playboy Enterprises chair and CEO Christie Hefner (number 85).
Forbes writes that “the power ranking score is based on a composite of visibility (measured by press citations) and economic impact.” This economic impact “reflects three things: résumé (career achievements and titles, so a prime minister counts as more powerful than a senator); the size of the economic sphere over which a leader holds sway; and a multiplier that aims to make different financial yardsticks comparable.” (http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/30/power-women-merkel-biz-07women-cz_em_cs_0830powerintro.html). So, for Forbes, power equates into (1) visibility and (2) control over money. Given the high number of American women on the list, one imagines that the press citations Forbes is tallying are largely from the U.S. media.
Is this the correct way to measure power? In particular, does it make sense to use locusts of power that are as traditionally male as media coverage and control of capital to quantify women’s power? Perhaps these questions can be answered with a look at some of the women f’ power-measuring method leaves out. These women include scientists and scientific advisors like WHO senior policy advisor and international tobacco-control advocate Judith Mackay; NIDA director Nora Volkow; and physicist Lisa Randall (all of whom are included in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list this year). Though none of these women control much money, and they likely don’t get a lot of media attention, it could certainly be argued that they have intellectual power, and possibly policy dictating power as well. What about cultural power? Forbes’ list doesn’t allow for the inclusion of women like Harry Potter mastermind J.K. Rowling, though her influence on the reading habits of children and her power as the creator of one of the most successful series’ of books ever is undeniable. Most disappointingly, perhaps, Forbes power-granting matrix has little room for female activists and philanthropists, so women such as Victoria Hale, the founder of the Institute for OneWorld Health, a non-profit developing vaccines for diseases like malaria that devastate developing nations, have no place on their list.
As long as power is defined in terms of how much attention you command and how much money you control, lists of powerful women will continue to be dominated by Western CEOs and politicians. Though it feels good to read a list of women succeeding in these traditionally male arenas, women are still a tiny minority in these fields, and lists of them will ultimately do most women little good. In the age of people-controlled Internet media and revitalized grassroots activism, these are not the only ways to obtain power, particularly not for historically marginalized groups like women. It is essential that we recognize the accomplishments of women who have come to their power through non-institutional means. Though there may be less prestige in their positions and Forbes may overlook them completely, these women are absolutely making a difference in the lives of the people around them, and that is where true power lies.
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Grace Mitchell |
| About the author: |
| Grace Mitchell lives in Austin, Texas with her partner, dogs, and cats. She is heavily involved in dog rescue. She is a university number cruncher, nearly-finished graduate student, and intermittent junk seller. |
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