PR and Feminism

            As a public relations major, I found that our last class discussion hit very close to home. Public relations is dominated by the female labor force. Every single internship I have had during my college career, I have had a female boss. If I’m not working with females, I find myself working with gay men. Why does PR have this feminine dominance? I’m not sure. However, Samantha Jones from “Sex and the City” certainly springs to mind. Her job is portrayed as going to extravagant parties, looking good and having a lot of sex – not much knowledge required there. Because the field is usually portrayed in the media as all play and no work, (which, trust me, it’s not) I propose that society deems it more acceptable for women to join this field and move up in rankings.

            The idea of a free female labor force also strongly applies to public relations. I have taken on three unpaid internships – mostly because the communications industry is notorious for not paying their interns. Yet, I have had to pay for the classes required to get internship credit, the gas for my car and daily parking. At my current internship, I see exploitation occurring everyday, mostly due to understaffing. For example, the four people on my team that I work with (both assistants and executives) work from 8:30am to 6:00pm plus late night screenings and events (which occur almost everyday). Just last weekend, they worked from 9 to 6 on both Saturday and Sunday as well. (I also was asked to work these days as an intern, which left very little time for any type of school work). I find this exploitation of female labor unfair. It leaves very little time for any type of personal life or social interaction beyond the scope of work.   

Most recently, the publicity industry in particular has been dominated by social media. As we discussed in class, it is not only an option but a requirement to have almost every type of social network if you want to make it in this field. I believe this form of branding and self-promotion can be very useful to an extent. You can tell a lot about a person from looking on their Facebook or Twitter accounts. However, this form of self-branding only works when you are completely aware that you are self-branding. Just one picture on Facebook can tarnish your image. What’s more, is that even when you un-tag yourself from an image, the picture is still out there floating around in cyber space. Yet, I think that building your own brand, on your own time, as a woman is empowering, and social media has been a key medium that has helped women advance in the workplace, especially in PR.