Who says women aren't powerful?

Whether you're a well-adjusted consumer, a brand slave or a foaming-at-the-mouth anti-corporate type, you can't deny the power of marketing and PR in today's world. Every day we're influenced by carefully-crafted messages from governments, major consumer brands, lobby groups and "the media".

So it's interesting to find that roles in those areas are largely made up of women. The latest survey from PRINZ (Public Relations Institute of New Zealand) shows 73% of PR professionals are women, and that's set to grow. A recent survey of New Zealand journalists shows a similar, if not so extreme, female skew. As for marketing, I don't know statistically, but I do know anecdotally, there are a lot of women out there.

Of course, it brings up the question, are these women really that influential, or are they merely doing the bidding of higher executives who are more often men?