Yogurt: A Barrier to Women's Success - Raritan Valley Community ...

5Yogurt: A Barrier to Women’s SuccessRosemary SaalYogurt is the food of women. Not convinced? Just watch popularYouTube video Target Women: Yogurt and comedian Sarah Haskins willbreak it down for you. Although the video does not specifically elaborate onyogurt in relation to women’s role in the corporate world, it can still berelated to the essay “Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership” by Alice H.Eagley and Linda L. Carli, found in Taking Sides: Clashing Views on SocialIssues, edited by Kurt Finsterbusch. In her video, Haskins criticizes manyyogurt commercials in a satirical manner, mocking the ways in which theyappeal to women. Her analysis of yogurt commercials illustrates howseemingly insignificant advertisements perpetuate notions of women’sinequality to men and lack of professional ambition. This supports the pointsmade in Eagley and Carli’s essay that women face many social obstacleswhen trying to achieve their goals and even though women have made greatprogress in the corporate world, there is still a gap between the overallsuccess of women and men.In their essay, “Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership”, Alice H.Eagley and Linda L. Carli discuss the disparity between men’s and women’ssuccess. They believe that the previously accepted view of the “glass ceiling”holding women back from success is an inaccurate analogy (153). Instead,they believe the labyrinth is a more accurate term because it implies thatthere are many obstacles, or barriers, between women and professionalsuccess along the way rather than just one that appears at a certain point(154). They describe the lack of women in higher up positions, the differentways in which women and men are viewed in terms of leadership, and otherobstacles women face.