PR Pioneer: Muriel Fox PDF

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This is an example of an assignment highlighting the PR Pioneer Muriel Fox...

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PR Pioneer: Muriel Fox The feminist pioneers of this country make up a small yet important group of people that work together to support the foundation of many of this country’s most vital industries. Muriel Fox is an example of a feminist trailblazer who dominates within her industry while simultaneously acting as an impressive role model for women everywhere. Fox is the standard for all people within the public relations industry and in her ninety-three years has broken the glass ceiling time and time again in order to prove her power, intelligence, and determination throughout her career. Muriel Fox, the current co-founder of the National Organization for Women has been in the public relations and communications industries since before women were respected within these fields. In the 1950s, she began to speak about the gender bias within the corporate world after having a regretful experience with an organization that refused to hire her based on her gender only. Since then, she has proven that gender has no standing on a person’s work ethic or talent. Furthermore, following this disappointment, Fox eventually became the youngest female Vice President of the company that rejected her only a few years before. This is the first of many instances where Fox was forced to prove herself in the industry. Nonetheless, she preserved and continued to make great strides not only in her career but for the careers of many women throughout this country that admire Fox. While Fox’s focus is on public relations, she is also often known as an important women’s rights advocate because of her work. In fact, Magdalena Gómez for Honeysuckle argues that Fox is a “woman who fought as hard for women’s rights as she did for the rights of Black people. A woman who raised a family of activists and at age eighty-eight is a fierce

advocate for the civil rights of all as she was when she was a young woman” (“Celebrating 50 years”). Throughout her career, Muriel Fox had the power to put into action many of the standards for women in the industry today. For example, “she wrote the letter that persuaded President Lyndon Johnson to sign Executive Order 11246, which added “sex” to affirmative action and opened up millions of corporate jobs to women” (Altmann). Similarly, Fox worked on the project which eventually changed the way that “Help Wanted” ads are read today. She fought for gender neutrality in the ads which eventually abolished the use of gender-describing pronouns throughout job ads across the country. This was a small but significant change for women to begin to feel confident when applying for jobs. The segregation of genders throughout the workforce is something that Fox has a strong focus on, even today where full equality has not yet been established throughout this country. Through Fox’s company NOW, she has had a platform in order to launch some of her most significant changes throughout the country. Fox “helped organize NOW’s strike at the Plaza Hotel’s Oak Room in 1969, during which women descended on the restaurant demanding service. They wore fur coats to “look as if we belonged,” says Fox, who had tried to have lunch there and was told they didn’t allow women” (Altmann). But, in the vain of protecting her career in order to stay relevant in the industry, Fox also knew when to stay behind the scenes in support of her coworkers. Oftentimes, she was the backbone but not the face of many different actions taken in conjunction with the women’s rights movement in order to maintain a strong image and protect herself, her family, and her career. Fox’s intelligence in this matter is what makes her significant throughout the industry to this day. Fox’s career was always the focal point of her life. In an interview with Honeysuckle’s Magdalena Gómex, Fox says, “we did make history and we knew that it would happen when we

founded N.O.W. in late October, 1966; we just didn’t think it would happen so fast. It was very difficult. I didn’t get enough sleep, I had no discretionary time to see friends or read a book. Everything was for my job, where I worked 50-60 hours a week, for the women’s movement or for my family. I tried to be loyal to all three and sometimes I skimped on my family; I still feel guilty about that. Time was a big oppressor. The same is true for women today – in part because we still don’t have good quality child care” (“Celebrating 50 years”). Fox’s career took the front seat in her life because of the important work she was doing for minority groups across the country. This work is more than a full-time job and Muriel became the face of parts of the civil rights movement because of her hard work and dedication. Additionally, Fox continues to work on these issues today as she is not only the cofounder of NOW but also the Chair of the Board of Veteran Feminists of America since 1993 (“Muriel Fox”). This organization’s mission is “to honor, record and preserve the history of the accomplishments of women and men active in the feminist movement, to educate the public on the importance of the changes brought about by the women’s movement, and to preserve the movement’s history for future generations” (“The Veteran Feminists”). This directly aligns with Fox’s career throughout her life. She is an advocate for change and continues to remind women and minorities today that the work is not yet over as she is in support of organizations like NOW and Veteran Feminists of America. Fox’s public relations skills launched her career and shaped it into everything she is known for today. The ability to communicate well with others about the important topics that must be discussed, such as women’s rights, allowed Fox to motivate others to follow in her path. She is a feminist trailblazer that dominates the public relations industry with her strong sense of justice for what is right and the determination to make significant changes that overall affect all

women of this country in a positive way.

References Altmann Jennifer. “Feminist Trailblazer.” Barnard. https://barnard.edu/magazine/summer-2016/feminist-trailblazer “Celebrating 50 years of N.O.W- an interview with Muriel Fox.” Honeysuckle. https://honeysucklemag.com/50-years-of-n-o-w-muriel-fox/

“Muriel Fox.” She's Beautiful When She's Angry, www.shesbeautifulwhenshesangry.com/murielfox. “The Veteran Feminists of America Mission Statement.” Veteran Feminists of America Inc. http://www.veteranfeministsofamerica.org/about/mission-statement/...