Never a dull day in 2022;

if it is not a worldwide pandemic, it will be the threat of nuclear apocalypse, gas prices, or, you know, the good old abuse of power in the workplace. That is not new; we are new at talking about it. Do you remember Susane Pfeffer? Hers is admittedly the name I have often used to get into VIP parties during her lengthy KW tenure. ( see How to Get IN uninvited rule nr 3). The open letter referenced in this FAZ article is signed by 80% of her current underlings, flagging her leadership as, well, toxic. When I read similar revelations about women in power, my first reaction is:
“Yeah, she looks like a bitch”.

Then, checking myself, I wonder what happened here. This is not the first female director being pushed out of a position of power due to being “difficult” or a “bad leader” - the accusations are usually anonymous and vague. There is a long list of powerful women accused of a hostile work environment. ( No dick pics involved). Do power, stress, and poorly defined responsibility turn women into monsters? They don't help, that is for sure. Or does our socialization shortcircuit us from accepting a power-full, (often) child-free woman as anything other than nature’s abomination?

And let’s go back to the institutional structures for a second. There have been some meager attempts all over the board (ahem, museums’ board being the operative force of non-change) to modernize and decolonize institutions. Is it enough to change the cover person, say appoint female, BIPOC, LGBTQ leaders, though? Or do you need to change the structures? Duh. How would a new leader fair in unchanged, rigid, conservative structures? An uninteresting gamble.

Again, every worker’s concerns are valid and should be heard, especially art workers whose working conditions are still in the middle ages. Just thinking how easily we buy into the trope of the “difficult” woman. Witch, bitch, potayto pothato.

As for Pfeffer? Yeah, she is a bad boss.

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