Petraeus Escándalo Boils Down to El Hombre Propone y la Mujer Dispone



(although Congressional testimony continues, investigations have concluded that despite the Ambassador's concerns about security, there was not neglect on behalf of the Administration that resulted in these tragic deaths)


Petraeus resigned because he got tangled in un lío de faldas.




Did I consult with some organizational psychologist or HR expert?


"Ay mijita, she sighed. "El hombre propone y la mujer dispone."

My mother broke it down with a saying she's been drilling into the heads of Lil' Sis and I since we were little girls: men will always make a proposal, indecent or not.

But women have the power to accept or deny it.


We can rely on our brains and not our cleavage.

In Broadwell's case, she could have done just so because she is extraordinary: herself a West Point and Harvard graduate, she is a Major in the Army Reserves, a marathon runner, with a book published by Penguin! In other words, she could have written a bang up biography of Petraeus without having to get...well, I'll refer you to the title.

Why Broadwell didn't seem to get this (was she intoxicated with her own power over Petraeus, her ambition? Was she just plain in love with her subject/mentor/lover?) is unclear. It's also not clear to the scores of young women I've witnessed wear their hoochie club clothes to work, deciding to "weerk it guuurrrl" to get ahead.

Men and women have been flirting--and then some--since forever and will continue to do so. Rather than only rail against the evils of patriarchy, how about we also take a stand in our Birks, stilettos, or running shoes and say no? Maybe it means you don't get total access in Broadwell's case or get that promotion (by the way, one of the best reporters The New Yorker's provocative Sy Hersch claims to have not stepped foot inside a briefing room in decades and he breaks some of the most important news stories).

As someone who hasn't played that game, I know the stakes and I can unequivocally confirm that my career has taken a hit.


El propone y la mujer dispone.

And that chicas is a position of strength.



Is "el hombre propone y la mujer" dispone a good code of conduct for men and women to uphold, at minimum in the workplace?