Sara Blakely is best known as the lady who helps women (and now men) worldwide keep their unwanted muffin tops at bay. Blakely is the founder of Spanx, a slimming undergarment that gives uber support without unflattering lines giving way underneath clothes. In short, she’s jousted confidence, perhaps comfort too, for those with jiggling fronts and/or backs.
Even if you weren’t clear what Spanx were, you’re sure to have heard of the sacred slimmers, either from a girlfriend, a conversation, or just thumbing through the television. Spanx has a general association to undergarment as Coke has to a soft drink.
By taking scissors to the bottom of hosiery and reconfiguring the top material, the 41-year-old has been declared the youngest woman ever to make the billionaire list, according to FORBES, without the help of a rich 80-year-old husband or a lofty trust fund.
Actually, she started her business with a savings of $5,000. To date, Blakely “owns 100% of the private company, has zero debt, has never taken outside investment, and hasn’t spent a nickel,” according to FORBES. That’s impressive.
Youngest self-made billionaire without any gold-digging tendencies, debt-free so she isn’t hurting the financial bubble, and has seen steady margins since the first year of start-up (meaning her now-team has a steady paycheck), who could muster negativity from this?
Well, depending who you ask—some men.
“She? She is worth a billion? Huh. I guess anyone can be worth a billion,” according to James Altucher of TECHCRUNCH.com who has encountered this man and a couple others with this passé, critical attitude.
Unless Blakely stole one of these guys’ ideas, what’s with the less than congratulatory attitude?
There can many factors here, for starters Sara has joined a finite club: “She is part of a tiny, elite club of American women worth ten figures on their own, including Oprah Winfrey and Meg Whitman,” according to FORBES.
So, the basis of an already small number of women who are part of this club could still be difficult to grasp. Why she has amassed so many dollars may be tricky to understand as well. After all, it is panty hose with cut off feet. Though many men like to see slim waistlines, understanding how that translates to dollars, billions, can be mystifying—to say the least.
The next factor is preference.
According to Stephanie Chin of Forbes, a study where men were surveyed about what woman was more preferred, modern (educated) or the traditional nurturer, the men who were in the 18 to 40 range and making $75,000+ a year overwhelmingly agreed the nurturer was more preferred.
“They wanted an agreeable, easy-going relationship where women were present in all aspects of raising children. Finding an equal wasn’t a top pick.”
Though the study talks about men in relationships, I think the lines aren’t that blurred when crossing over to the workplace. Men see women as women regardless of the connection. So, if a woman is most preferred as a nurturer, then it is absurd for a nurturer to funnel in billions, eh? And by the men’s standards of that particular study, theses nurturers wouldn’t be equals (hence, “equals wasn’t a top pick”), so top pay is definitely out.
I could better understand, sympathize the gripe from these men had Blakely taken her route a la Kim Kardashian. But to have become the solution to her problem and millions of women through hard work and a measly $5,000 start-up cost? Ridiculous. Men who take issue with Sara’s success prove to be their own worst enemy in the absence of their own.
By Deidre White