Jack Ryan was the unlikely Romeo of Mattel. What do you think it was about Jack that the women found so appealing and irresistible? What did you think about his relationship with Stevie? What did you think about Ruth and Seymour Rosenberg’s attempts to shortchange him on his royalties and phase him out of Mattel?
I can’t even imagine what women saw in Jack Ryan - maybe power and money. I have looked online for pictures and he was not a particularly attractive man even in his youth. I think he took advantage of the women who worked for or came in contract with him. I was surprised that he put the patents to Barbie in his name instead of Mattel’s - that wouldn’t happen today. I think he made too much in royalties and it was short sighted to make such a long term and ambiguous contract.
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I think Jack offered women his full attention, making them feel important and listened to in a time when women were ignored. Also, per the book, he was a good lover. He seemed to be able to keep a positive relationship with former lovers which implies that he was kind and caring person. He certainly spent money on the women and took them to incredible events and dinners. It seemed that he was generous, even signing the car loan for Stevie.
I know that I have known men that were not always the most traditional handsome but they were good guys, fun and interesting so they dated what some would consider “above their fighting weight.”
I don’t want to sound as if I endorse Jack. He made the work place his dating pool and I wonder if the women really could say no. There was no support for women at work to complain about his actions.
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I think that Jack knew how to treat women to make them feel good about themselves. Even though everyone in the office seemed to know that he was a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy, he never had a problem finding a new girl. I think Ruth had to make a change to his royalties because he was making more money than she was. Plus he had gotten difficult to work with and more interested in having a good time than in his work at Mattel. Also she didn’t like that he was taking all of the credit for Barbie and she wanted to put him in his place.
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Jack was described as a handsome man and certainly sounded very charismatic, plus he threw money, drugs and liquor around at all his parties. So there were probably many women who were attracted to all this. I don’t think it was wrong of Ruth to redo his contract - people who work in sales have their commissions changed all the time. It sounded like he had a great deal for many years!
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This story took place at a time when power was a very attractive thing to women. Women didn’t have much power and riding on the coattails of a powerful man allowed them to feel a bit powerful. I thought Jack was a womanizer and used women. Ruth was smart to make a change to his royalties because he had an easy ride for a long time. I admired Stevie for turning her relationship with him into a caring friendship. He needed a true friend.
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Jack gave women his full attention, really listened, and knew how to turn on the charm. He knew how to make women feel good about themselves. But he basically used the office as his own personal dating pool. He was pretty generous—taking women to fancy events, spending money on them, and even helping Stevie out with a car loan. Plus, he was said to be great in bed.
When it came to his job at Mattel, though, it seems like Jack started caring more about having fun than actually working. Ruth had to step in and cut his royalties—partly because he was making more than she was, but also because he was getting harder to deal with. She didn’t like that he was taking all the credit for Barbie and probably wanted to knock him down a peg.