I suspect that you've heard about the Secret Service sex scandal where President Obama's advance team in Cartagena, Colombia allegedly hired prostitutes, then failed to pay at least one of them.
While the investigation of the events in question grinds on, and the televised political discourse tries to blame the president for this, one big aspect of this story has been missing from the coverage.
If the Secret Service wasn't a total boys club, this wouldn't be an issue.
I am not in the Secret Service. I am far too lazy to even bother applying. As far as I know, my entire interaction with the Secret Service has been when I used to see Lady Bird Johnson's security team guarding her, back in the days when we used to share a manicurist at a small salon in Austin.
Looking at the Secret Service from the outside, one thing is clear.
You don't have multiple people allegedly hiring prostitutes on a work trip if your work culture is one where women are respected as people.
According to this NYT article, 25 percent of the people who work in the Secret Service are women. No data is given for what percentage of these women are field agents.
Then again, as parodied on Jon Stewart earlier this week, the idea that women are people is having a rough time right now.
Update: Another Jon Stewart clip
