Osias, who represents 40 banks and built her legal empire through provocative advertisements in banking trade publications, contends that the feminist movement's push for gender-blind workplaces has stripped women of their greatest natural advantage. She argues that sexuality, properly combined with competence and strategy, can shatter the glass ceiling far more effectively than conforming to male standards of dress and conduct. Her position generates a surprising wave of support from female callers across the country.
The conversation covers the Paula Jones case, the failures of corporate feminism, and the double standard that celebrates sexuality in entertainment while condemning it in the boardroom. Art's website crashes under the traffic as listeners rush to see photographs of his guest, inadvertently proving her central thesis about the power of attraction in generating attention and opportunity.
Key Moments
Osias's core thesis: sex as a workplace weapon: Osias argues that women conforming to male business attire and standards 'blend in with the wallpaper.' She says feminism left women without their most powerful asset, and that the only way to catch a male employer's attention and break through the glass ceiling is to use sexuality as a weapon.
Same-day SCOTUS Paula Jones backdrop: Art frames the segment against the same-day 9-0 Supreme Court decision allowing the Paula Jones suit against President Clinton to proceed, then asks Osias what she would have counseled Jones before the alleged hotel-room encounter. Osias says she would have stayed behind closed doors with Bill and gotten 'much more out of that deal' than lawsuits.
The provocative bank-trade-magazine ad strategy: Osias describes how, unable to get appointments with male bankers, she ran full-page provocative ads in trade journals bankers read. The next convention, those bankers wanted to meet her, and she now represents 40 banks.