Back in 1998, when I began my career in advertising as a client service executive (Yes, the copywriter was in client servicing at that time!) women were scarce in advertising agencies. Once in a while a sophomore doing her MBA will come for an academic project. She will be doing a safe project like “Customer satisfaction of Pepsi in rural area: A study by taking Gondawala district as an example” or “Market penetration of HSBC’s SME loans” or something like that. From my agency we will go for creative presentations, and only very rarely I have seen women sitting in as brand managers. But there were some good agencies run by very able women, and those agencies are still doing well. There were some good women in client servicing too, but the creative department was predominantly a male bastion. Creative directors, exceptionally good ones, are normally males. (Please don’t call me an MCP!).
I am against any stereotyping. I know talent only matters and sex does not play a role in it. But sometimes I do wonder about the influence genes have on us, which we cannot change even with best mentoring.
May be that is why we don’t have
1. A female musician that can be called truly great, great enough to be placed along with Bach, Beethoven or Brahms. Please note that I am not talking about singers, I am talking about great music composers or directors. Females somehow miss this composer gene.
2. A great physicist. Yes I know about Madam Curie, but she was more of an experimental physicist than a theoretical genius. Almost all great theoretical physicists are males.
3. Great female chefs are hard to find. Even though women outnumber men in the number of people that actually cook, excellent cooks are normally men. This confuses me to the core, but, just think for a while and you will see I have a point.
4. Have you heard of a female philosopher? A real philosopher who has created her own school of thoughts? I am still yet to come across one.
I am not being all negative about women. I am just pointing out the realities, and I am not judging why the reality is like this.
Advertising still remains as a male dominant territory. Gorgeous women client servicing executives will come and go, but patiently I am still waiting for a woman who will wow me, not with her looks, but with her brains.
And especially in this part of the world, how long shall I wait?
