Unequal treatment, unequal value and unequal power are three aspects of the gender balance argument in public relations. The few models describing how public relations is practiced do not distinguish the component parts on the basis of gender. Such models do not consider the men and women in the intra-institutional processes as processors of public relations; nor do they take into account the men and women who attempt to impact intra-institutional decisions about the public relations process. Women and men are also processors of public relations in an inter-institutional context, within the political, legal, economic, and educational contexts of a culture. Both men and women make up publics for the intended effects of public relations activity. How gender is determined in the process of public relations should be considered in efforts to make models of the process more descriptive than current models claim to be. With more attention to how ideology and research function for what is still typically a masculine-dominated world view, the assumptions of the call for gender balance in public relations can better be understood. Understanding of the public relations role in organizations may also be enriched. (Two figures are included, and 40 references are attached.) (MG)