During a talk at a women's conference in New York, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed the double standard for women is "alive and well," the Los Angeles Times reported.
Clinton answered questions with International Monetary Fund Chief Christine Lagarde about whether or not a female double standard still existed "in the media about how we talk about women in public life."
"There is a double standard, obviously," she said to the audience on Thursday. "We have all either experienced it or at the very least seen it. And there is a deep set of cultural psychological views that are manifest through this double standard."
Clinton, a former attorney, spoke about how she once read an article in an Arkansas newspaper suggesting male lawyers should decorate their office with pictures of their family to seem like a "responsible, reliable family man" but women should not, because people would think "you won't be able to concentrate on your work."
"Some of those attitudes, we know, persist," Clinton said. "And that's why it's important that we surface them, and why we talk about them, and help men and women recognize when they are crossing over from an individual judgment - which we're all prone to make and have a right to make about somebody, man or woman - into a stereotype."
"So yeah," she added, "the double standard is alive and well, and I think, in many respects the media is principal propagator of its persistence. And I think the media needs to be more self-consciously aware of that."
Clinton also discussed her concern for young women and their idea of career advancement.
"Too many young women are harder on themselves than circumstances warrant," said Clinton. "At this point in my life and career I've employed so many young people - and one of the differences is, whenever I would say to a young woman, 'I want you to do this. I want you to take on this extra responsibility. I want you to move up' - almost invariably they would say 'Do you think I can?' or 'Do you think I'm ready?'"
"When I've asked a young man if he wants to move up, he goes: 'How high?' 'How fast?' 'When do I start?'" she added. "There is just a hesitancy still about women's worth and women's work that we're going to have to continue to address."
