"The Martha Stewart trial makes clear how far women have risen in the business world. America can be proud of our equal-opportunity prosecution and conviction"
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Equal opportunity, in this formulation, means the right to be dragged into court like one of the boys. Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s line lands because it flips the usual “progress” story into something colder and more accurate: power doesn’t just come with corner offices and glossy profiles, it comes with exposure to the same punitive machinery that has long policed male ambition.
The Martha Stewart trial (early 2000s, post-Enron, peak corporate mistrust) was marketed as accountability. Kanter’s phrasing needles that mood. “Risen” sounds like a celebration of women’s advancement, then “prosecution and conviction” slams the door. The joke isn’t merely that feminism has a dark side; it’s that institutions often recognize women’s equality most eagerly when punishment is on the table. In other words, the state’s commitment to parity can be more reliable than the market’s.
There’s sharper subtext, too: Stewart wasn’t convicted of insider trading, but of obstruction and lying to investigators. Kanter’s “proud” voice reads as deliberately over-patriotic, mimicking civic self-congratulation while exposing its moral thinness. It suggests a culture that confuses symbolism with justice, and that loves a high-profile “lesson” even when the underlying offense is ambiguous.
As a business thinker, Kanter is also poking at corporate America’s gender narrative: women are welcomed as success stories until they become threats or cautionary tales. Equality, she implies, is real when the protections of exceptionalism disappear. That’s not a victory lap; it’s an indictment dressed up as applause.
The Martha Stewart trial (early 2000s, post-Enron, peak corporate mistrust) was marketed as accountability. Kanter’s phrasing needles that mood. “Risen” sounds like a celebration of women’s advancement, then “prosecution and conviction” slams the door. The joke isn’t merely that feminism has a dark side; it’s that institutions often recognize women’s equality most eagerly when punishment is on the table. In other words, the state’s commitment to parity can be more reliable than the market’s.
There’s sharper subtext, too: Stewart wasn’t convicted of insider trading, but of obstruction and lying to investigators. Kanter’s “proud” voice reads as deliberately over-patriotic, mimicking civic self-congratulation while exposing its moral thinness. It suggests a culture that confuses symbolism with justice, and that loves a high-profile “lesson” even when the underlying offense is ambiguous.
As a business thinker, Kanter is also poking at corporate America’s gender narrative: women are welcomed as success stories until they become threats or cautionary tales. Equality, she implies, is real when the protections of exceptionalism disappear. That’s not a victory lap; it’s an indictment dressed up as applause.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
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