U.S. senator (was) to hold event teaching aspiring working women to be more ladylike

Sen. Martin Golden (R-NY)

New York Senator Martin Golden (R) has figured out why women are having a hard time bridging the employment gender gap, and he wants to help – by offering a course to teach aspiring businesswomen about looking and acting their girly best:

Later this month, Republican State Sen. Marty Golden’s office is holding a career-development event for women in his southern Brooklyn district teaching them “Posture, Deportment and the Feminine Presence.”

That’s according to a taxpayer-funded mailing being sent out in Golden’s district, which an offended reader passed along. The taxpayer-funded event – presented by a “certified protocol consultant” – is part of a series teaching women in Brooklyn “what’s new in the 21^st century as it relates to business etiquette and social protocol.” More details are also available on Golden’s Senate website, including the fact that women in attendance will be taught to, “Sit, stand and walk like a model,” how to, “Walk up and down a stair elegantly” and “Differences in American and Continental rules governing handshakes and introductions.”

[…]

A spokesman for Golden said the goal of the event was simply to help young women land jobs.

“In these economic times, when so many people are out of work, and graduating with advanced degrees to set themselves apart in the workplace, events such as these are also important,” said the spokesman, John Quaglione. ” Senator Golden hosts a multitude of events annually, and this is our first event of this kind, and we hope it to be successful and benefit those who attend.”

Who cares about trivial things like equal pay, restrictive child care costs and eliminating all those glass ceilings? It’s sitting down with closed legs and and using stairs like you’re on America’s Next Top Model that really matter when it comes to what employers look for in female candidates, amirite?

Then again, it seems Sen. Golden soon began realizing this might not truly not be the best way to help women land more jobs, as the City & State blog reports that he then removed mentions of teaching how to “Sit, Stand and Walk Like a Model” and the likes from the event page on his Senate website. In fact, he’s since gone cold turkey and just quit the entire thing altogether.

Now where will all those poor, unladylike women go to be told how to better conform to their gender stereotypes?

(via Joe. My. God.)

Tags: Martin Golden • women • femininity