First lady Michelle Obama topped the most powerful women list.
What makes a person powerful? According to Forbes, that depends on gender. Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list came out last month, and the contrast with the World’s Most Powerful People list is stark. The “general” list, which is composed of 64 men and only three women, is based on qualifications of influence, control of large financial resources, possessing power in multiple spheres, and utilization of that power. On the other hand, for the women’s list, topped by Michelle Obama, power is based on a dollar component and an equally weighted “buzz factor,” which is established largely by the number of Facebook and Twitter followers a person has.
Women’s rankings were split among four categories — politics, business, media, and lifestyle. An article Forbes magazine published on the rankings noted, “Only 3 percent of the 500 biggest public companies in the United States have female CEOs. Worldwide, female heads of state can still be counted on two hands.” While these are clearly numbers that need to increase, are there so few women worldwide with real power that Chelsea Handler and Danica Patrick are in the top 100? The categories and methodology seem like a cop out, refusing to acknowledge women in the realms that men often dominate. Forbes omits women like White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, former Washington, D.C., school Chancellor Michelle Rhee, and the former president of Chile and current Under-Secretary-General for U.N. Women Michelle Bachelet.
More disconcerting are the individual descriptions Forbes provides for those they deem the most powerful women in the world. Unlike the general list, women’s bios note marital status and number of children. The descriptions are riddled with sexist language (of WellPoint CEO Angela Braly’s disagreements with Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, they say “the catfight continues”) and condescending, irrelevant facts (Annika Falkengren, CEO of Swedish bank SEB, is good at economics because she likes shopping!). Rather than celebrating the accomplishments and power of women worldwide, Forbes continues to write them off.
What do you think makes someone powerful? Which women would top your list?
This blog post was written by AAUW Public Policy and Government Relations Fellow Emily Krueger, a master’s student in public policy at George Washington University.
AAUW Dialog 
Actually, you are in error. The general list DOES include marital status and children. You have to click through to their profiles, which look just like the women’s ones. The rest of your points may be valid, but before making such sweeping judgments, you should make sure you have the facts straight.
Interesting, they must have actually added children and marital status to the general list… When I originally wrote this post about a month ago those profiles did not include that, and a number of other blogs addressed the issue. Hopefully shows that more “mainstream” media is responding is responding to issues brought up on the blogosphere!
I agree Forbes is off base. However, what makes a person powerful has a lot to do with whom the person has power over. If it is over a religious body, the person needs to be highly regarded in an authoritarian way, such as the Pope.
If it is “politics”, a combination of personal appeal, ability to reach many, and a “popular’, perhaps emotional style and subject, e.g. Sarah Palin, Chuck Schumer.
If it is fashion, popularity and widespread exposure are necessary.
In other cases, it is simply being at the top of a key organization….some unknown executives in huge corporations can influence the direction certain goods or services will take…the technology, styles, sizes, prices.
In some of the above situations a person needs to be self-centered and ruthless in order to get to the key position.
Someone at Forbes is mathematically challenged. Angela Merkel is the top woman on the “Powerful People” list, but not the top woman on the “Powerful Women” list?
Wow, business as usual, but that does not make this acceptable. Glad to see the tweet and link to this post.