By Jessica Reed
For those of you media-gossip-loving 'career-girls' (or 'career-boys') who have been too busy juggling with work, hobbies and family-time but still want to keep track of the recent Forbes ordeal, here is a quick recap:
- Forbes magazine publishes a piece titled 'Don't marry career women' (gasp).
- The blogosphere, shocked that such an article would be published in a magazine enjoying a very respectable reputation, reacts quite fiercely (and brilliantly).
- Forbes realises its mistake and takes the article down, probably thinking nobody will notice (double gasp).
- Anger, shock and awe ensue. Salon writer Rebecca Traister answers with 'Unhappily ever after'.
- Forbes republishes the piece, along with an equally clever counterpoint oh-so audaciously titled 'Don't marry a lazy man'.
- At this point the blogosphere is overwhelmed by rebuttals and sarcastic comments mocking the magazine's choices.
- Forbes' editor -in-chief Steven Forbes issues an apology:
"The piece was intended to be part academic and part humorous, instead, it profoundly offended hardworking career women everywhere. We deeply regret having done so."
... It seems the blogosphere not only did not share Forbes editors' questionnable sense of humour, but had a direct impact on important editorial choices.
That, and I suspect many 'career girls' are cancelling their Forbes subscription as I write this.
