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I don't like to buck a trend, but sometimes a woman's got to do what a woman's got to do. So it is with great pleasure that I open this week's review with that rarest of commodities: good news. Truly. I know that mostly we've been preoccupied with doom, gloom and how to rise up against The Man, but a report from workplace stress consultant In Equilibrium suggests that a large number of us are – wait for it – in equilibrium. Nearly two-fifths of workers said the recession was making no difference to their lives and another 41% thought they would feel much better by the end of the year. I'll drink to that.
Back in the office I was disturbed (though not exactly surprised) to find that, compared to men, women have to be much more careful about their language at work. The research, conducted by the linguistics department at Reading University (and therefore presumably not spurious), found that women consciously police what they say so they don't sound too feminine (and therefore weak), or too masculine (and therefore aggressive). Dr Judith Baxter, who carried out the research, said: "Women are involved in additional conversational work to counter the effects of being typecast as irrational females … In modern times, male managers are celebrated for their use of a more co-operative discourse. However, women are often castigated for the appropriation of more authoritative forms of discourse." You can tell she works with words for a living.
Perhaps we should give up on face-to-face communication and do everything through Facebook instead (we'll overlook the fact that it's owned by The Man). A report published by the Work Foundation has found social networking is having a profound effect on relationships at work. It said 45% of people surveyed said they do not work in the same physical location as their work friends, but instead use social networking or instant messaging to keep in contact. Forget the profound effect – I'm just not quite sure what to make of this. Does it mean that our work colleagues are no longer just the people who sit next to us? Or is it more that social networking allows us to maintain a larger number of friends? Perhaps I should ask The Man.
Lastly, good news*. President Obama is introducing a new White House dress code. Where once aides ran around in compulsory jackets and ties, the new president doesn't like the cold, so jacks up the heating – making jackets redundant. There are two problems with this approach. One: climate change. Two: everyone knows dress-down Friday is a sartorial disaster. Perhaps the president should invest in some long johns instead.
* OK. So strictly it isn't good news. But it is news about President Obama. Which, with my rose-tinted glasses firmly in place, is virtually the same thing.
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