A few years ago, I emailed the editor of a local business magazine to complain about its lack of women writers. Women make up 50 percent of the population, I argued, so why did they make up only two of the fourteen writers at the magazine?

The editor responded:

Hiya Kelly,

A number of years ago a leading feminist writer and a frequent commentator upon women’s issues on TV lamented that the only place that serious women are invited to speak is to forums on women’s issues. To which a particularly indelicate male responded, ‘When you stop talking exclusively about yourselves, you will be invited.’  AAARGH! Okay, he was the ugly sexist pig. Not so much for what he said, but the fact that he actually said it.

AAARGH indeed. It’s not stupid to think of women as so single-minded and self-obsessed that they talk only about themselves, the editor implied. But it is stupid to state that thought aloud, and risk getting ripped to shreds by hordes of angry feminists.

This email got me thinking about the gender divide: so what if women make up half the population? Does that mean they need to represent 50 percent of everything?

What if they don’t? Does it indicate sexism, or is it more complex than that?

Introducing TEDWomen

These are just some of the questions raised last week when creators of the TED conference, an annual event devoted to “ideas worth spreading,” announced the creation of TEDWomen. Less than 20 percent of TED talks have been given by women. But in creating a new venue, is TED boxing women’s contributions in its own narrow category?

“It makes some sense,” writes Ryan Brown on Salon.com. “It’s not as if issues concerning women don’t deserve a global forum. Actually, they probably deserve a few thousand, you know, to make up for that whole male affirmative action program we’re running here called ‘the entire history of the world.’”

But given the gender imbalance of other TED events, Ryan writes, “it’s hard to shake the feeling that creating a separate event for women simply throws up another barrier to their full participation in the TED brand. By partitioning the ideas of women — and the issues that face them — into their own conference, you risk marginalizing women further.”

My Own Experience of the Gender Debate

Time will tell how successful TEDWomen will be. Meanwhile, I’m left struggling with the same problem. I resonate with the views and experiences of other women in business, but by catering my business exclusively to them, I alienate 50 percent of the population.

For some men I’ve talked to, simply the indication of a female audience sends them running in the other direction. They assume they won’t identify with the subject matter, or worse, that they’ll be unwelcome among a group of mostly women.

The first reason I understand. The second makes me sad.  Has gender become such a divisive topic that we can’t talk about it in mixed company?

I hope not, because I find the topic fascinating, so it’s unlikely I’ll stop writing about it any time soon.  But I hope the debate that follows will welcome all points of view, no matter how marginalized.

What do you think? Are you sick of seeing delineations between men and women in business, or do you enjoy them and the whole debate?