Some thoughts on Hewlitt-Packard

It is quite unfortunate that a major company whose top two people were women saw them both fall from grace--Patricia Dunn with an especially loud thump (Carly Fiorina was outsted because the direction she took H-P failed to profit the company). With so few women in key posts like CEO and chairwoman, "putting women in charge" can now be given a bad name.

Perhaps just as contentious is the constant complaining among feminists that when women "make it," the last thing they should do is "act like men," i.e., use power to destroy others, and formulate little autocracies. Put simply, women should not replicate the patriarchy.

This latter issue cuts to the deepest level of radical feminism: Not only is the patriarchy the cause of social ills, but the patriarchy is not necessarily made up of men exclusively. What Dunn did, in particular, demonstrates what can happen when people are given a lot of power. Feminism, as an inevitable change in the quality of women's lives in America, is going to continue, even at its snail's pace. But there is a difference between benefiting from feminism and living a feminist life.

Patriarchy equals corporatism, and until there is some fundamental change in the way America works and does business, the Patricia Dunns--both female and male--will be with us.

Fiorina put together what was considered bad strategy. Dunn was unethical. The only lasting harm that can come of their departures would be for Hewlitt-Packard to stop promoting women. Women are going to make strategic mistakes and are sometimes going to be ruthless in their leadership styles. It is appropriate to blame them for their failures, but it is equally important to not blame women as a whole.