Former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers talks female empowerment

During a master class event Feb. 17., Myers offered students and faculty a glimpse into her dual-faceted political and entertainment career, as well as her reflections on sexism in the workplace. Photo courtesy of Dee Dee Myers

After the fall of the Soviet Union, former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers visited young Baltic countries to help build their democracies in the early 1990s. One night, when the diplomatic trip came to an end, she returned to Russia and prepared to board Air Force One. 

As her car turned a bend and revealed the Boeing 747 stationed on the tarmac, its lights illuminating the symbol of America, she paused for a moment. A flurry of emotions — more specifically, a sense of purpose — coursed through her. 

“I remember thinking, ‘Wow, we have a huge responsibility here as the United States of America. We’ve got to get it right,’” Myers said. “Because these people, these young democracies, these struggling countries trying to provide more opportunity for their people — they are looking to us.”

After serving in former President Bill Clinton’s administration from 1993 to 1994 as the first female press secretary, Myers made waves with her 2008 New York Times best-selling novel, “Why Women Should Rule the World.” At a Feb. 17 Zoom master class hosted by Chapman’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Myers detailed the barriers she confronted as a female politician to the 130 audience members. 

“Sexism was something I faced as a young, female press secretary and it has been a part of power cultures for as long as (their creation),” Myers said at the event.

Maddie Fabricant, a senior broadcast journalism major and women’s studies minor, asked Myers how she’s handled coming off more like a man, in order to be taken seriously as a professional, without giving up her personality. Although she now has more experience with the phenomena, Myers said she once fell into that “challenge” as a younger woman. While employed at the White House, Myers revealed she had made inappropriate jokes to assuage the gender disparity, which she acknowledged “wasn’t the best thing.” 

“One (piece of advice I would give my younger self) would be to ask for help from other women,” Myers told The Panther in a previous interview. “Sometimes I felt like I had to do it on my own, and now that I’m on the other end of that equation, I think there were other women in Washington who would’ve helped me.”

Almost three decades later, she called upon women in the Zoom audience to discover their own female role models, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as an example, to learn from their skills and mannerisms.

“It’s interesting to see the dynamics of how gender is changing, but we’re often surprised by how rampant sexism still is,” Fabricant said. “As a young woman, starting out in the field is very hard to navigate and any advice and suggestions coming from women older than us are really important.”

Before being employed at the White House, Myers got her start in politics by cold calling the California Democratic Party to volunteer, landing one of her first positions working for former Vice President Walter Mondale’s 1984 presidential campaign. During the master class, Myers discussed her experience as a spokesperson for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) 1990 gubernatorial campaign. She touched on her reverence and admiration for Feinstein’s strength as a woman in politics, especially during a time when Myers herself was navigating that seemingly uncharted path.

Appointed in December 2020 as senior adviser and Business and Economic Development director to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Myers has embraced her return to politics after serving as co-host of political talk show “Equal Time,” consultant for Emmy Award-winning show “The West Wing” and Warner Bros.’ head of corporate communications. When asked by moderator Suzanne Lysak, a broadcast journalism professor at Chapman, to compare and contrast sexism in the political sphere and the entertainment industry, Myers said she was surprised to find the two weren’t all that different before the #MeToo Movement pushed executives to hire more women.

“When I got to Hollywood in 2014, I was really taken aback by how few women were in senior decision-making roles and how self-conscious people were about it,” Myers recalled. “They would literally say things like, ‘Well, we just hired the best. This is a really demanding industry and only the most talented people can succeed here.’ I could not believe my ears.”

Mollie Thomas, a Chapman 2019 graduate and former intern at Warner Bros., is a family friend of Myers and recalled having coffee with her on the Warner Bros. lot when the two discussed Thomas’ career.

“We just sat down and she just gave me some amazing advice,” Thomas said. “A lot of it was ‘You’re going to be OK,’ and it was nice to hear from someone high up in the industry tell me that … I look up to her so much and would love to be half the woman that she is one day.”

Myers also offered advice to students at the master class who are hoping to get their foot in the door and stand out from potential competition. Whether it be for politics or entertainment, she noted that potential employers are looking for candidates who can demonstrate genuine interest, initiative and an eagerness to learn.

“Own your power to make those things come true and be willing to take some risks,” Myers said. “No career path is a straight trajectory. There’s nobody who’s successful that doesn’t know how to fail … So go out and do it and love it and enjoy it.”