Amy Poehler Takes Issue With Sexist Male Executives In Hollywood

Over the years, Amy Poehler has been very vocal about the inequalities between men and women in the workplace. As someone who ran her own show (Parks and Recreation) and produces countless projects, she took to the cover of Fast Company to discuss her own frustrations with the business.

For instance, male executives ask the entrepreneur where her children are while she’s working. Whether it’s in important business meetings or on set, Poehler fields this type of sexist question multiple times. She explained to Fast Company, “I have these meetings with really powerful men and they ask me all the time, ‘Where are your kids? Are your kids here?'”

The mother to Abel and Archie continued to explain the frustrating dynamic. “It’s such a weird question. Never in a million years do I ask guys where their kids are. It would be comparable to me going to a guy, ‘Do you feel like you see your kids enough?'”

That said, she still takes business cues from men. Not only because the business is dominated by men, but because, Poehler explained, that they talk slower than women.

“I take a lot of meetings with women and we all talk really fast. But every guy talks so much slower. Maybe there’s a scientist who could tell me why, but I think men are just a little bit more comfortable taking up conversational real estate. So I’ve been seeing how slow I can tolerate talking. I’m doing it now. Let me tell you, it’s really hard for me.”

Despite this, she would like to level the playing field even more in Hollywood even though women are making strong strides in the business. “I just like working with women.”

During an interview with Katie Couric for Glamour, discussion turned to Dr. Jane Aronson of Worldwide Orphans Foundation, which made Poehler highlight the attribute she enjoys the most while working with women. “I just love bossy women. I could be around them all day. To me, bossy is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody’s passionate and engaged and ambitious.”

“There’s more women writing and producing and that always leads to different voices, which is a good thing. Everybody’s experience is different, I guess. But I do hear what you’re saying, which is it feels like it’s a really good time right now for…I don’t know, I’m reiterating maybe what I said before.”

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images]