Typically, when you read reports from Davos, it’s about the Men of Davos. When you do hear about women, it’s generally a complaint that their attendance is sparse in comparison to the males. Such, however, is not the case. There are tons of women at the World Economic Forum, but we never hear about them because they’re hidden behind their men, invisible– like second class citizens– and in some cases worse than that. Confused? Joseph Stiglitz’s wife, Anya Schiffrin, explains.

In Davos, you see, there is a tiering system for the ladies, each one worse than the last. At the top you have The Wives. Being a Davos wife is not much fun, Schiffrin says, because people only care what your husband has to say. Everyone gets a name tag with their name, occupation and affiliation. But if you’re just there because of your husband only your name is printed. No one cares about your job or interests or what you bring to the table and adding insult to injury? The wives’ name tags aren’t even colored-coded like their man’s. Just white.

The wives’ name tag guarantees that the Davos man in question will instantly decide you are of no value and so he immediately looks over your shoulder for the next best opportunity, i.e. someone without a white name tag who is, by definition, more important than you. Many wives refuse to be Davos wives and the white name tag is the reason they most often cite for their decision to stay home.

If you thought The Wives had it bad, though, you should check in with The Mistresses of Davos. Not only are The Mistresses there with men who keep promising they’re going to leave their wives and never do but they don’t even really get introduced to people as the ho this guy is banging.

Typically the Mistresses’ men are swallowed up by a tsunami of meetings and interviews and don’t have the time or inclination to take their mistresses around with them. Often these men go to high-level dinners to which wives and mistresses are not invited.

What is a mistress to do? Her options include sitting in her hotel room crying. Finding a gay boyfriend. Or using her time wisely to scope out the scene for a new sugar daddy. Continue reading »