Marcia G. Yerman's Page

On January 11th, executive coach Peggy Klaus wrote an article for the New York Times called
“A Sisterhood of Workplace Infighting.” In it, she examined how women treat one another at work, and stressed the importance of “learning to value one another so we can all get ahead.” She referred to this issue as the “pink elephant lurking in the room.”

The room she was specifying was the office, but I couldn’t hel… Continue

Along with the rest of the country eagerly anticipating the inauguration of Barack Obama, the majority of American women will be reveling in the fact that those who wanted to curb a woman’s right to choose didn’t make it to the Oval Office.

However, after the warm glow subsides, the reality of working to regain traction on ground that was lost during the Bush administration will set in. With a president in the White House who understands and accepts a woman’s right to reproductive justice, the… Continue

In their sixth poll since November 2007, Lifetime's Everywoman Counts campaign assessed what women were thinking, post-election. Their latest survey had partners WomanTrend and Lake Research conducting a nationwide telephone poll of 600 women. The live interviews took place from November 21-24, with sampling controls to ensure proportional demographics reflecting race, age, and region. The focus was on "women's reaction to the presidential election and it's impact on the future of female… Continue

In the global crisis of violence against women, there is a heated debate about the best way to approach the issues at the intersection of HIV/AIDS and human trafficking. The language used to describe the two differing schools of thought says it all. They are the terms "harm elimination" and "harm reduction." The former entails the abolishment of sexual slavery, trafficking, and prostitution. The latter involves working to ameliorate the HIV/AIDS crisis in a pre-existing negative situation. Distr… Continue

One topic that spawned plenty of conversation during the race for the presidency, was the role of gender. Last week, New York Women In Communications presented The Spin Room: Gender, Politics & Media in the 2008 Election. The panel of four, Geraldine Ferraro, Arianna Huffington, Lesley Jane Seymour, and Marie Wilson -- with moderator Carol Jenkins at the helm -- dug into a range of issues navigating territory that has been well-trod, albeit without resolution.

Jenkins, President of t… Continue