Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna
Part of Speakers' Corner
8th March 2013
Simone de Beauvoir’s got your number, Slim
Who said, when consulted on the possibility of women entering the British Diplomatic Service:
“I dare say that the intellectual type of woman, which would presumably be the type to enter the Service, would be as useful as a man in a purely intellectual occupation such as that of junior clerk in the Foreign Office… [However] the value of a diplomatist still largely depends on his success in making “contacts” with other people. In this regard, the intellectual type of English woman would… be at a disadvantage when dealing with foreigners… For, to put it bluntly, the clever woman would not be liked and the attractive woman would not be taken seriously.”
The answer is the British ambassador to Berne in 1933. You can find his comments, together with those of contemporaries, in the excellent “Women in Diplomacy: the FCO, 1782-1999” (see pages 29ff). Other comments from British ambassadors in 1933 range from the thoughtful to the thuggish.
When I hear people saying that women (or men) can’t do this or that job I’m always reminded of the Simone de Beauvoir quote: “Man is defined as a human being and a woman as a female — whenever she behaves as a human being she is said to imitate the male.”
This is relevant to discussions about gender equality because there is often an assumption that male is somehow a default state. For example, when we look at patterns of work designed originally to suit men with non-working child-rearing spouses (eg 9-5 full-time work, five days a week), the assumption is often made that women must adapt to those patterns rather than that we should all figure out a better pattern.
If you’re interested in these themes you may enjoy my two earlier blogs, Ambassadors in high heels and Ambassadors in high heels heading your way.
The British diplomatic service these days is quite good at all this stuff. For example there are currently two examples of wife-and-husband teams being appointed joint ambassadors in Nicaragua and Costa Rica; and in Armenia. But we clearly need to keep working on this. There is also a load of excellent “GREAT British Women” stuff on our Facebook page; and on our website.
Incidentally I’m not particularly knowledgeable about Simone de Beauvoir, but came across a paraphrase of the quote above in an excellent early 1970s Doonesbury cartoon about a feminist kindergarten teacher talking to the children in her care. A not-very-legible copy of the cartoon is here, including the great punch-line “Simone de Beauvoir’s got your number, Slim.”
Finally, in researching Simone de Beauvoir quotes, I came across this cracker: “No one is more arrogant toward women, more aggressive or scornful, than the man who is anxious about his virility.”
Sounds plausible to me.