Name: Broad Strokes for March 31, 2017: Brexit, 'Legs-It', and the Latest Uber Scandal
Uploaded: 2017-03-30
Duration: 4 min 55 s
Description: We discuss the Daily Mail's coverage of the meeting between Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon, a menstrual leave bill, and the ongoing scandal at Uber.

[ MUSIC ] Welcome to Broad Strokes Fortune show we talk about news that matters to women So let's talk a little bit about British Prime Minister Theresa May News a lot this week, because she actually started the Brexit process. But before that, she had a meeting with the Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon. Where they were talking about Brexit, they were talking about the possibility that Scotland might leave the UK. These are two really big, important issues. But The Daily Mail had a slightly different take. Yeah, I mean, I actually thought that this was really hilarious. I mean, if you read the story, which is actually written by a woman, I mean The writers talking about their pins and their shanks, and the different connotation for how they're crossing their legs, which is totally ridiculous, totally fluffy, and you can tell that it's a joke. And so at first I wasn't really Offended by this at all, and thought it was kind of like a lighthearted prank. But then, there was one Twitter user who pointed out that the last time that the two world leaders of these countries met, and they were both men at the time, the cover of the Daily Mail was completely serious. So it didn't really make me think why is it that when women are meeting, suddenly this becomes a big joke Yeah, I mean, I agree that this is definitely a goofy, silly, story. But I mean, think about how the press is constantly covering powerful women. Think about particularly the Hilary Clinton campaign. She was criticized for her hair, her clothes, smiling, not smiling. This is actually a really big problem. But I will say, Theresa May, I really have admiration for how she's handling Handled this. She's well known as someone who cares about clothes and cares about fashion. And she's not compromising that. I mean, she's wearing leopard print shoes here. I mean, I think it's really awesome that both of these women are really leaning into being women, and they're super feminine, and they're not trying to tone that down. And I think that that's Definitely progress. The other kind of big news coming out of Europe this week was a bill that's right now in front of the Italian Parliament talking about paid menstrual leave, so it'd basically offer you know all women in the country three days The paid leave if they're experiencing super painful periods. Now, there's kind of pros and cons to this bill, as with every bill. The pros being, is this kind of normalizing menstruation and kind of saying that, yes, You know, painful periods are a serious medical issue, but on the other hand, some people are saying that it might just give employers yet another reason to discriminate against women. Yeah, I mean, this is particularly an issue in Italy, where less than 65 % of women work, I mean that's a crazy stat. So, to open the door for employers to say " Well, we could hire a man, we know he'll be here every day, or we could hire a woman, she might be Three days a month. I feel like it's really dangerous. Yeah, this is a debate that's super relevant for the US as well. I mean, if Donald Trump, you know, passes a paid leave law which is promised to do and he makes it you know, only applicable to women, then you know, a lot of women here are gonna face the same kind of issues, you know? Why would you hire someone that's gonna be out for six months when you don't have to. Yeah and finally I just have to say for years, for eons, for decades, men have been saying women can't do certain kinds of jobs because they get their period once a month, and that makes them unreliable, and emotional, and all of these things. And I just have to feel bad about anything that gives out, even just a shred of reliability. So finally, in what's becoming our weekly Uber segment, we should talk about the news from that company, this week, there's a bunch of it. First of all, we found out that in 2012, CEO Travis Kalanick went to an escort bar in South Korea, with employees, Then the company released their diversity report, this is something that they refused to do for years. And then, third Kalinex ex- girlfriend came out and gave an interview and said her experience with the culture was really difficult for woman really misogynist and she does not believe that the company can change. First we'll talk about the diversity report. I mean, it's basically on par with the rest of the Silicon Valley. I mean, whether it's Apple or Facebook or Google. I mean, they're pretty much all around a third women, so nothing too crazy there. But then on the ex- girlfriend's comment that she doesn't believe that the culture can change, I actually really disagree with her. I think that it can change and I think it will change, kind of or else because at the end of the day, Uber is offering a commodity product, right? So I think that the company, if it wants to stay competitive, is gonna have to change where it default. Otherwise, consumers are gonna just turn to their Replacement. Yeah, I think I'm a little more cynical than you on this issue. I mean, there just have been stories out there for years about the problems with the culture at Uber. And the company has been really reluctant to make any changes. Now, they're making a lot of noise about this. So they're saying it's an important issue, we're doing this investigation and we will find out about the results of the investigation, next month, and we'll see what happens. Is the company gonna step forward and get rid of people that are causing these problems or not? We'll have to see. Unfortunately, that's all the time we have this week for Broad Strokes. Come back next Friday for another episode on Fortune. com. [ MUSIC ]

We discuss the Daily Mail's coverage of the meeting between Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon, a menstrual leave bill, and the ongoing scandal at Uber.