In traditional China, women were locked inside the average compound and were never allowed outside the “2nd gate” (they had many gates inside the compounds at that time). In modern China, though, we see our “female comrades” (to quote a Mao-era “pop phrase”) just about everywhere, some looking outright gorgeous, some looking biz-like.
It’s the biz bit that I’m into today. Carly Fiorina may not exactly be omnipresent in China’s biz world, but what cannot be stopped (fortunately, for an equal society) is the move of women into the workplace. It’s no longer a case of a young lady waiting for her man after graduation or women locked in homes, caring for the baby (although that is still pretty commonplace in China). No, we’re talking about business leaders who are women.
There’s a big reason why they’re in the biz, by the way: yours truly just happened to join tracks, ideologically (so to speak), with another Mac compatriot, Guy Kawasaki. In his The Art of the Start, he realizes the bits and bobs that make women special when it comes to starting up a great new biz — and I quote:
My final tip is that you ask women — and only women. My theory is that deep in the DNA of men is a “killer” gene. This gene expresses itself by making men want to kill people, animals, and plants. To a large degree, society has repressed this gene; however, starting an organization whose purpose is to kill another organization is still socially acceptable.
Hence, asking a man about a business model is useless because every business model looks good to someone with the Y chromosome. For example, Sun Microsystems wants to kill Microsoft. When is the last time you bought a computer based on whom the manufacturer wanted to kill?
Women, by contrast, don’t have this killer gene. Thus, they are much better judges of the viability of a business model than men are. Don’t agree with me? The book The Darwin Awards provides irrefutable proof of women’s greater common sense. These awards commemorate “those individuals who have removed themselves from the gene pool in a sublimely idiotic fashion.”
For example, in 1998 two construction workers fell to their demise after cutting a circular hole in the floor while they were standing in the middle of the circle. The Darwin Awards contains nine chapters about the stupidity of men, and one chapter about the stupidity of women. I rest my case.
The David Feng version is a little unlike the Guy Kawasaki version, which (especially if you read the last bit) implies that all men are stupid and nearly all women are supposed to be super-smart. But to kind of balance the Kawasaki quote, David Feng presents a real-life example: Ketty, the former secretary (and still a powerful Standing Committee member) of the Beijing Macintosh User Group.
When Ketty came in back in September 2005, the entire Membership Congress took the risk — a very smart and sensible one at that — at electing a total dark horse candidate who had just nominated herself at that very meeting. Like someone who knew the horse off by heart, Ketty leapt into the group as the newly-elected secretary. Barely younger than the President (then at around 23 in age), Ketty turned out to be a massive driving force behind the group, which had more than double in membership by the time she left in June 2007.
Ketty immediately found out about the power of the press, summoning even reporters from the mainland mouthpiece People’s Daily to the 4th BeiMac anniversary meetup. The group went on Beijing TV as it celebrated its 4th year in existence. Ketty was an able diplomat, linking up with fellow groups in Beijing, and flew to Hong Kong to meet fellow Mac group leaders down there. She was able to silence just about any controversy, especially in executive meetups. And her English was on par with that of the President.
To David Feng, having such a powerful secretary was a blessing. The icing on the cake: this was a lady. It showed that a great group needs great leaders — men and women.
One of Ketty’s final acts in office was to co-host with David the 5th anniversary meetup of the user group. It turn out to be a resounding success, with about 90 people in attendance. The entire event was lively from the start, and continued to be lively until the meeting ended about three hours later. Not only did the two make great hosts, but they — along with the membership — lead a great team.
If Ketty and Guy’s examples are any indication, it’s that women are just as important as men in the workplace. Maybe this isn’t picking up so quickly in China as is the case in the West. But at least there’s one indicator that it’s big in China — in David Feng’s plans about corporate establishment, one of the fundamental principles is that one of the top execs (or more) — have to be women.
And that’s a good and fair thing.
In fact, the Wall Street Journal reports that shops in Washington and New York are starting to 
