Category Archives: All Up in Yo’ BizNazz
‘Buzzkill’ Ellen Pao Sues Kleiner VC Firm for Craptastic Treatment of Women
Earlier this week, TechCrunch reported on the details of Ellen Pao’s suit against VC firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers. In it, are some very cringe-worthy details about the firm and its senior partners’ treatment of Pao.
In 2006, Pao had gone to Germany with then fellow junior partner, Ajit Nazre, who apparently thought he was on Spring Break instead of a business trip. Nazre allegedly pressured Pao for sex, to which she was like, “Dude, no, you’re gross.” Not a horndog to take no for an answer, Nazre lied about his wife leaving him and got Pao to “eventually succumb” to his persistence a few times.
After Pao swiftly ended things, Nazre got all cryface and played some rather childish retaliation games (for FIVE whole years), which included “excluding her from business meetings, removing her from email discussions, failing to share information she needed for her job, blocking her from interviewing new employees, and more.”
When Pao brought up Nazre’s behavior to the higher ups, she was advised to quit her yammering or transfer to their China office if she didn’t like it. Old-fashioned managing partner Ray Lane advised her to “engage in a personal relationship with” and marry Nazre–clearly the only sensible thing for a fallen, Ivy League-educated woman to do. It’s comforting to know we’re still sending the age-old message to women of color: marry a dude or be effectively deported.
Inexplicably, Pao refused to heed both suggestions and instead suffered further harassment. Such as this incident:
“For Valentine’s Day 2007 Senior Partner Randy Komisar came into [Pao's] office and gave her a book entitled ‘The Book of Longing’ by Leonard Cohen, inscribed with a handwritten note from Mr. Komisar to Plaintiff. The book contains many sexual drawings and poems with strong sexual content. At about the same time, Mr. Komisar asked [Pao] out to a Saturday night dinner, telling Plaintiff that his wife would be out of town.”
According to the suit, when Pao complained, “she was told that it was unfair, that it would never have happened to a male partner, but that she should just accept it.” To add insult to injury, Pao got to watch Nazre, who had two years less experience than her ascend to senior partner while she was stuck in the back office, failing in her attempts to convince people of what a douchebag he was.
Pao’s suit claims that KPCB regularly discriminated against women, citing a 2011 conversation with Randy Komisar, who told Pao that “the personalities of women do not lead to success at KPCB, because women are quiet.”
That’s right, we are. I dunno how Joan Rivers ever won Celebrity Apprentice. Everyone knows she’s quiet as a botox-injected lab rat.
Also in 2011, KCPB partners organized two Boys Club dinners from which women employees were excluded due to the incontrovertible, well-known fact that they “kill the buzz,” according to partner Chi-Hua Chien. Oh, Chi-Hua. If you think that a beautiful, smart woman like Ellen Pao would kill your buzz, then you are probably just a social reject who shits his pants a wittle bit when forced to converse with a woman. Get a grip.
Anyway, Ellen Pao doesn’t deserve any of this bullfuckingcrappery (new word, kids). I really hope she wins the suit and shows the boys club exactly how “quiet” women are. And all of you VC firms out there who think you can get away with gender discrimination, consider whether you’ve got an Ellen Pao in your ranks, ready to expose you for the wankfaces you are.
Popularity: 2% [?]
FastCompany’s Call to ‘Rebrand Girls’ Spawns Creative Campaign for Chinese Girls
AKQA's "Case for Girls" ad, which encourages women to wear red lipstick on International Women's Day to support Chinese girls and gender equality
I’ve always liked FastCompany, which seems to have one finger on the pulse of cool happenings with startups, branding and activism. Recently, the magazine asked several of the most creative ad agencies in the world to “rebrand baby girls” in mock ads that cast girls as the No.1 choice for consumers across the globe. See a slideshow of the “Case for Girls” ads here.
Though some of the ads may be more successful than others at making the point about gender inequality, I applaud these ad agencies for supporting the cause.
One ad in particular stands out: the submission by AKQA, a digital ad agency that has launched a campaign to get women to wear red lipstick on March 8, 2012 (International Women’s Day), in support of women’s health and gender inequality in China and around the world.
Their ad campaign uses the concept of Nhi Shi, or “You Are,” to encourage support and action. Visit their website here. For a quick overview of their cause, watch the stylish video below:
I personally LOVE red lipstick. So I’ll definitely be wearing some on March 8th. What other creative ways have you found to celebrate International Women’s Day and raise awareness for gender issues?
Popularity: 1% [?]
‘We’re a Culture, Not a Costume’ Campaign + 5 Fun Ways to Fight Racism on Halloween
I love the in-yo-face message the empowered Students Teaching Against Racism (STARS) at Ohio University are sending to the jackasses who still choose to wear these riDICKulous costumes on Halloween. But these kids look REALLY friggin’ sad.
And it makes me a little sad to look at these pictures because I’ve been there before. I’ve felt those feelings of anger, shame, embarrassment and overall sucky-ness that has ruined my Halloween night one too many times.
I know that I’m going to see one or two of these jackass costumes on the street somewhere, and that I’ll probably get a little sad-clown on the inside (and then go have a fifth of vodka)–but I hope these kids don’t. I hope they and all kids of color have a damn fun Halloween night despite all the inevitable cultural appropriation.
And to help with that, I’ve come up with
5 Fun Ways to Fight Racism on Halloween
- Play a racist costume drinking game. Every time you see a racist costume, take a shot. (The drunkenness will help with the rest of this list.)
- Hand out awards for Best Racist Costumes. The possibilities are endless. You can go with the old schoolyard trick of putting stickers on people’s backs, hand out gift certificates to bad restaurants, or offer to buy a round of shots for the winners if you’re in an especially feel-good mood.
- Ask uncomfortable questions and/or be ironically racist. Ask someone what they’re doing this far north of the border. Tell them they should probably go back to their own country. Walk up and say, “Hayyy, whut up my ching chong nigga!” (or another equally offensive, awkward-moment-inducing slur related to their costume) while you slap them on the back with a sticker that says “Racist Costume Award.” (Warning: This could potentially backfire on you, as the person you’re mocking might totally be into it.)
- Do a racist costume scavenger hunt with your friends. Whoever takes the most pictures of (or with) racist costumes gets a bottle of Patron–or whatever sweet prize you choose. Bonus points for anyone who gets the costumed person to do chinky eyes.
- Take pictures. Post them online. Create a blog using the pictures you took and add LOLCats captions. Get 100 “likes” on Facebook. Bonus points for anyone who can Photoshop Sad Keanu in the background of the pics.
Happy Halloween! I hope you all come up with some kickass original costumes.
Jenny Rain
Popularity: 1% [?]
An ‘Entertaining Asian’ for Your Friday [All Up in Yo' BizNazz]
What do you find most annoying?
- The alveolar click and subsequent explanation of it: “Jo!e means Joy!”
- You’re confused about what “a flair for life” means.
- You’re wondering what kind of gadget has a face?
- You don’t what’s so entertaining about chinky eyes and chopsticks.
- The awkward feeling that somehow Asian food isn’t considered “gourmet.”
(Thanks, Kevin)
Popularity: 1% [?]
Stylish Glasses for the Asian Face
So, I’ve been catching up on some of my fav Asian American/race blogs and happened across this post on 8Asians.com about a new eyewear shop that caters specifically to Asian Americans. The shop was started by Filipina American optometrist, Katherine Manalo, who’s based in Richardson, Texas (big ups to D-town!). Check out the full interview with Ms. Manalo on 8Asians. Perhaps you’re thinking, “Why do AAPIs need special glasses?” Here’s the explanation from EyewearEnvy.com:
Why Asian-Fit EyewearProper fitting eyeglasses are important for everyone, but no one has a harder time finding frames that fit than Asians. A typical Asian’s facial features include a lower and less prominent nose bridge, making it more difficult to find frames that fit, especially plastic frames. Most frames manufacturers in America do not take this into consideration in their designs, leaving Asians with poor fitting frames and a limited selection of styles.
In many Asian countries, this is less of an issue due to an increased awareness of anatomical differences, and also the obvious greater demand. Despite the increasing Asian-American population, as well as the fact that many of them need to wear glasses, there has been a lack of selection to meet this demand. Recently several eyewear manufacturers, most notably TC Charton, have recognized the need and begun designing eyewear exclusively for Asians.Tested for Asian Fit
To ensure our frames fit the unique features of an Asian face, we go through a series of test to ensure the fit is comfortable and secure. This begins with the source of our frames, we order them exclusively from US manufactures specializing in this design or directly from Asian manufacturers. From there we test each frame on a focus group from different Asian nationalities selecting only the frames found comfortable and positively reviewed.
Kudos, Katherine Manalo, for ensuring that none of us four-eyes will ever need to do the ‘nerd pushup’ (i.e. constantly pushing up our ill-fitting frames on our shorter-than-average nose bridges) ever again. I only wish that I’d stumbled across this shop before I’d gotten LASIK. If you still haven’t gotten LASIK and/or want some properly fitting, stylish frames for your Asian face, check out EyewearEnvy.com.
In addition to solving a problem that secretly plagued the AAPI community, Katherine Manalo’s inspired me to think about other secret or not-so-secret fashion challenges faced by us. My wish list of items is below. If some of you entrepreneurial AAPIs out there want to take it upon yourselves to solve them/start your own businesses, feel very very free.
Maxi Dresses
I can’t wear these because when I do, I’m a far cry from Gisele. My five-foot-two-inch self is rather like a 7-year-old at a slumber party, dressed up in mommy’s women-clothes. Yet, there they are, racks of these summery dresses in every store, taunting me with their long, flowing fabric and fab prints. I suppose I could get the thing tailored and just chop off a foot of fabric, but the cut probably won’t be the same and most of the interesting print will likely go bye-bye.
Necklaces
On her, it reaches the waist. On me, it reaches the crotch.
Rings
Rings are to my fingers like Lohan to a wagon: constantly falling off! My fingers are small and thin and cold and in dire need of some adornment.
Watches and Braclets
My wrists are small and thin and cold and in dire need of some adornment. Yeah, so I just said that a second ago about my fingers. But it’s true. I’m just small and thin and cold all around, and it sucks. I’ve worn bracelets as armbands and anklets before. I’ve used a needle to poke a hole in a leather watch. But then I got an iPhone and it solved everything. So, it’s not a huge deal to me.
What things annoy you due to your stereotypically Asian or non-Asian physical features?
Popularity: 14% [?]
