The NY Times Sunday Supplement has an interview with domestic diva Martha Stewart in which she’s promoting her new book, the Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts, and her show, which is moving to the Hallmark channel in September. Martha talks about her upbringing, her brand, and her thoughts on feminism. She also discusses her 2003 conviction for insider trading, for which she spent five months in federal prison. Without feeling sorry for herself or sounding bitter, Martha says that the SEC should “have been paying closer attention to other things.” It was the interviewer who brought up Bernie Madoff, who bilked investors out of an estimated $18 billion dollars while running the largest Ponzi scam in history. Martha saved $45,673 by selling stock based on illegal insider information.
Here are Martha’s thoughts on feminism and her incarceration, with more at the source:
Where does your ambition come from? Did you have a critical mom?
No. Not at all. I had a critical father. I’m more like my father. He was a sales rep for pharmaceutical companies.Did he spank you with a paddle?
No, with a spoon, a wooden spoon.That could explain a lot. Did he really hit you with a spoon?
No, he would wave it, and we would run around. We were not beaten childrenA Freudian might say you bring classically male ambition to traditionally female pursuits.
I don’t think in a male or female way. I don’t differentiate between male and female. I never have. I’m not considered a feminist.Clearly, at age 68, you haven’t been analyzed.
No, I haven’t. I never will be. I have no patience,Why do you say you’re not a feminist?
Do we really need to waste time saying, “I’m a feminist”? I never thought about glass ceilings. I never thought about glass floors. I was thinking about how many pies can I come up with for my pies-and-tarts book. Those are all original ideas.Do you find it odd that the S.E.C. investigated you for insider trading, which resulted in your conviction in 2004, while letting a sociopath like Bernard Madoff run unchecked?
Let me just say one thing. They should have been paying closer attention to other things.You didn’t steal anyone’s money.
I was never accused of doing anything like Madoff did. Unfortunately, I was in the cross hairs at the time.Would you say it was a low point in 2004 when Hillary Clinton gave your $1,000 Senate campaign donation to charity because she didn’t want to be associated with a convicted criminal?
I wouldn’t say that at all. I laughed.Do you blame the S.E.C. for your ordeal, which included five months in prison?
I cannot spend my time holding grudges. I could be crazy right now, O.K.? But I am not.
[From The NY Times]
I love Martha. She dealt with what she had to and moved on. When asked if it’s ok to call a craftsperson “crafty, which implies slyness,” she answers “Yes, we call ourselves crafty, and being crafty is a good thing.” She’s definitely been crafty and when Martha’s craftiness found her on the wrong side of the law she turned that around and was crafty in prison. It must be kind of satisfying to see how much the SEC royally screwed up while they were prosecuting her for saving less than six figures in stock trades. Meanwhile Martha’s businesses have been going strong. In a recent ranking of public publishing companies, stock for Martha Stewart Living ranked first with a relative performance of 8.1%. Her companies are doing well in light of the recession.
Martha Stewart is shown on 5/5/10 at a luncheon at the Central Park Conservatory. I love her shoes! Credit: Michael Carpenter/ WENN.com. She’s also shown at the Time 100 Gala on 5/4/10. Credit: PNP/WENN.com
I don’t think anyone could have handled the situation any better.
You ‘can’t be bothered to hold a grudge?’ Oh, STFU, Martha. It’s called Section 10(B)(5), and you violated it. Jesus Christ.
That being said, I was impressed with how she handled her jail time and how she spoke to the press about it before and after. More poise than most of the idiots in the industry. 😛
Also, can anyone tell I have my Corporations final in a couple hours? And that I’m super testy about securities and insider trading and self-dealing and all that nonsense? It’s the reasonableness standard! No, intrinsic fairness! No, complete candor!
😛
I hate everything.
Sorry, can’t stand her. Her defense of her illegal actions is that they should have been focusing on someone else who was doing something worse?
That’s like saying you shouldn’t be put in prison for robbing a bank because someone, somewhere, was committing a murder. You did the crime, you did the time. Worry about your own damn self, and not Bernie Madoff.
Sorry, but I don’t care much for Martha. I find her very prudish and feel like her show/ideas are overrated.
Nonetheless, I like her theory of never believing in “glass ceilings and floors”. Good for her in making a career out of something she loved – and not feeling like her chances in life were limited because she was a homemaker.
I don’t think she was saying that at all. she is just saying that there were bigger fish to fry and they chose to go after her (I mean, it was her money, not someone else’s like Bernie)
I’ve always thought her prudish, too, but look at her shoes! I see some freak coming out!!
I never liked Martha too much, but I love this interview. She’s just so to the point it’s awesome. And her response to the Hilary Clinton question is just hilarious to me for some reason!
But when I see SEC all I think of is Southeastern Conference. Guess I watch too many college sports.
It doesn’t matter if it was her money! That’s the whole point behind why courts so closely examine transactions between officers/directors/shareholders and the corporations! It’s called self-dealing, and it’s often illegal, unless the courts can find a way to legitimately balance it with things like good faith and the corporation’s need for funds and the whether or not the loan (if from a shareholder) was a REAL loan, and if the minority shareholders had a chance to reject the transaction and so on.
It makes no difference that this was ‘her own’ money. She had insider knowledge and she used it, despite having a fiduciary duty to the corporation, to teh other directors and officers, and the shareholders not to. It was violative of public policy and the government absolutely should have stepped in and put the kibosh on it, and saying that they should have focused on others is like the kid on the playground throwing rocks at another kid saying that the teacher should go take care of the OTHER kids throwing rocks at other kids.
YOU ARE ALL THROWING ROCKS GODDAMN.
What are we talking about? I can’t remember. And now I have a sudden urge to smack this kid sitting next to me.
very uptight puritanical high protestant anglo side of america.
its something my country lacks -thank god! really venal/vicious/class excessiveness hope we never git it too, even though we are gettin it.
though in all honesty occassionly watch her show and am surprised at how enjoyable it is. always desired a place in the hamptons thru ‘serena’ -humphrey bogart and kath hepburn. loved that movie!
Very classy: answer, outfit, shoes and all!
Love her! Always have, always will. But I can see why she would rub people the wrong way.
I have never liked Martha, but I like how she is unapologetic. She is who she is.
I don’t think anyone was arguing about whether or not she committed insider trading and whether or not insider trading is a crime. You don’t have to be in law school to figure that out. It’s been seven years since that fiasco and a lot worse has occurred since, and all she did was make a simple remark in response to a question.
Quite frankly I think she handled it well considering it has come up in practically every interview she has done since. The whole reason she went to jail instead of appealing was to finish the ordeal so that she could move on with her life, which is exactly what this type of argument prevents. If it were me, I would have strangled a bunch of interviewers by now.
I am a fan of Martha because she is an excellent teacher, she can take complicated recipes and craft projects and make them easy to understand. And I hope she is on the next season of dancing with the stars, paired with Max or Derek hough.
Love her shoes!
Why are so many women afraid of being referred to as a feminist these days? Feminist is not a dirty word. If it wasn’t for all of those “dirty feminist” Martha Stewart and countless other successful women would never have worked inside a corporation, much less owned one. I am sick of the idea that feminist equals man hating, angry bitch. Even Lady Gaga when asked if she was a feminist went out of her way to say “I am not a feminist. I love men. I hail men.” Once again, why does feminist equal man hating, ball busting, b*tch. I know some people will say that Martha Stewart and Lady Gaga just didn’t want to label themselves. But, I think it’s bigger than that. The word “feminist” has been continually demonized within the society. And you will have a hard time finding many (especially young) women who are willing to call themselves feminist nowadays. So sad.
I LOVE THOSE SHOES MARTHA IS WEARING!!!
More shoe porn in the morn…
Other than that…
SIGH…
Bee – I think it is because most people are more familiar with the narrow definition of “feminist” and are afraid to be boxed in it. Once you call yourself a feminist than you have to add an entire paragraph to explain how it applies to YOU specifically…
Women in traditionally female roles particularly avoid calling themselves that because they assume, they don’t fit the “popular” image of a feminist. Women in traditionally male roles are afraid it implies they have little femininity and are ball busting b*tches.
Seems like you can’t win so you try to avoid it alltogether or deny it (because admission doesn’t get you much and might in fact have adverse effects).
That’s my take on it!
@Oenix I think you’re completely right in your assessment. It just makes me sad that such a beautiful and powerful word has been hijacked into meaning something negative to most people. The feminist and suffragettes before them, along with all the civil rights activists, are the reason why myself and every other woman are able to enjoy the rights so many of us take for granted. Those women were heros, and they should be considered as such. Women need to take back that word, and restore it too its original meaning.
@Bee and oenix- We have good old Phyllis Schafley to thank for people taking the term feminist to mean bra-burning, man hating bitches. This is a serious pet peeve of mine as well. I love Martha so it makes me sad that such a smart educated woman won’t accept the title of feminist, when clearly she fits into the Webster’s dictionary definition of feminist.
Martha’s stint in prison was truly transformative for her. She had a very nasty reputation before prison and was forced to associate with a lot of inmates who would have been “below her” before. I think she learned some humanity and it seemed to stick when she got out. I find her quite impressive now.
Bee and others, I agree about the feminist term. Too much energy spent in dodging a term she should be embracing.
And Huma, are they still teaching the Chiarella case in corporations? It’s been a long time for me. Good luck on your final.
@Melinda I had no idea who Phyllis Schafley was until I read your post, and then googled her. It’s disgusting to think a woman had such a large role in defeating the Equal Rights Amendment. That is why today’s women need to reclaim the word feminist and empower women to embrace it, and all that it stands for. Sisterhood IS powerful.
@Raven Martha must’ve broken a sweat she was working so hard to avoid the term.
We need a new word…that’s what it is. I love Martha. I met her once and she was a horrible witch, but I can forgive her treatment of strangers from 15-20 years ago in light of all the astonishing things she’s accomplished in the last 10.
She’s handled her successes AND her failures with so much grace. I adore her.
feminism has essentially been hijacked by too many bad people and the whole ideology needs re-jigging.
Like all movements whether they be religious-political-social they become contrived and corrupted as I think has happened to feminist theory/politics.
Life continually changes and so does the world we live in.
But heh Martha seems ok to me-sexy shoes!
Formerly made mention of the classic humphrey bogart and audrey hepburn movie-‘sabrina’, by calling it sarina. apologies to humph and audrey for gettin it wrong.
@Bee and many of the above, the reason I hate the word feminist and go out of my way to specify that I’m NOT one is because the vast majority of women that consider themselves feminists nowadays just strike me as negative, over sensitive, abrasive, naggy, and it seems to me that their approach to equality goes WAY over the top. Actually you summed it up quite well when you said “man hating bitches”.. that’s exactly how most that I see or that I know personally come across. They seem to want to take charge of their relationships with men as if they have something to prove to them, and frankly I think it’s emasculating to most men and that they just end up resenting that. I just don’t want to be associated with people like that, and frankly I don’t want any part of it. It’s like Bible beating Christians who shout that everyone but the holiest among us are going to hell (and I say this as a Christian); all they really succeed in doing is alienating their audience and making themselves and their cause look as unappealing as possible to most people. I greatly appreciate and understand that the reason I’m getting a college education, the reason that I can consider myself an equal to my guy friends and boyfriend instead of being inferior or less than human, and the reason that I can actually choose my career, I owe it all to feminists. Like you said, it’s really a shame that the movement has shifted somewhere along the way from fighting for our rights, to something else entirely.
well said.
@Aspen,g, freckles, and g27 I know many women have negative feelings towards the word “feminist.” That’s why I said today’s women need to reclaim the word and return it to it’s original meaning. All the suffragette’s and feminists wanted was for women to be able to enjoy all the rights we take for granted today. There may be some feminist who are “man haters” but they are few and far between. And what may be seen by some as hostility towards men is oftentimes a hightened awareness of the continued social and economic inequalities many women still face.
Love Martha. She owns her inner (and outer) bitch.
@B-, agree with those snetiments B.
But I tell you where i reside sort of university/high profession precinct, some these young women and esp many of the older women in their 30’s and beyond can just have a terribly arrogant even nasty [vicious] attitude at times that is simply unfounded. Others not so and are quite well adjusted bout it all.
As you state females prior to the 70’s and eighties [my mother for one] were the ones that did it tough and had little affirmative action to fall back on [esp in aust]
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