I’ve spent the past week reflecting on what I wanted to say today. How to best express how deeply important caring about a more equitable world for women is. We first need to recognize there is a problem and then make sure the narratives we create and share reflect gender inequality.
We don’t need to look far to see it. We can visit a website for nearly any company and look up their senior executives or board of directors – the gender inequality is on display right there for us to see. Seriously, try it.
We can walk down the aisle at Babies R Us and look at the phrases that differ for the little baby girls and boys; jumpers that say, “Pretty like Mommy” for our daughters and “Smart like Daddy” for our sons. The stereotypes start at birth.
We can compare the media coverage of female athletes over their male counterparts. Serena Williams is a great example as time and time again she is dubbed as “emotional” or “hysterical” or covered ferociously for what she wears on the court.
Easier yet, we can look at the comments on social media posts today regarding International Women’s Day. Or if you are brave enough, you can look at the comments under a social media post about women sports. Disturbing, degrading, and disheartening are some words that can be used to describe what you’ll see. The finish line for when men will see women as equals is hard to see reading these comments.
I can also share with you some of my experiences. The countless times I’ve been called bossy, emotional, or assertive. The times I’ve been told that my successes will intimidate men or that I should downplay my intelligence. I can question whether we have raised our sons the same way – whether you have heard this advice also given to boys. I could tell you about my last job, when the constructive criticism in my exit interview was that I was too bold and sometimes it had people taken aback. I can ask whether this is the same career advice you have heard expressed to men aspiring to the section of the website I referenced earlier – the page with the senior executives and board of directors.
I could also give you the statistics from the Global Gender Gap Report 2020:
– Globally, gender parity stands at 68.6% and the bottom 10 countries have closed just 40% of the gender gap.
– It will take 95 years to close the gender gap in political representation, with women in 2019 holding 25.2% of parliamentary (lower-house) seats and 21.2% of ministerial positions.
– In the past 50 years, 85 states have had no female head of state.
– In terms of economic participation, the gender gap will take 257 years to close (compared to 202 years in the 2019 report). Globally, only 55% of women (aged 15-64) are engaged in the labour market as opposed to 78% of men.
– There are 72 countries where women are barred from opening bank accounts or obtaining credit.
– There is no country where men spend the same amount of time on unpaid work as women. In countries where the ratio is lowest, it is still 2:1.
Yet despite the fact that we can see it and we can quantify it, we continue to create false narratives that undermine all we are trying to work towards – advancing women in this world.
I’m going to share one example. I’ve heard countless times that it’s impossible to get hired on as a firefighter in Sudbury because they are not hiring white males. I’ve heard this narrative verbatim – from more than one person. Yet here are the statistics – there are 110 full-time firefighters in Sudbury, three are women.
The statistics do not hold up the narrative. In fact, you can argue they do the exact opposite – they unravel it.
These false narratives we continue to create and spread are detrimental to what we are trying to accomplish. When we decide the wrong group is being marginalized, we are moving further and further from the solution. When we actively turn a blind eye to the inequalities in this world we are failing to be good citizens. When we refuse to acknowledge how our stereotypes and biases are holding women back we become part of the problem. We aren’t fixing it. And if we aren’t fixing it, we are continuing to hold up the oppressive structure society has been built on.
When an alcoholic doesn’t think they have a problem, they don’t stop drinking.
Every single one of us can examine the stereotypes and biases we place on others. We can be part of this solution.
There are days when carrying stereotypes and holding the weight of gender inequality feels heavy. When I wonder if the fight of pointing out the false narratives or micro aggressions embedded in our society is worth it. But then there are days when I feel inspired and empowered and really proud. Days when I feel like I really can leave the world a little better than I found it, and maybe it can be a little easier for the strong women who come after me.
So, through sun and rain and wind and snow, we’ll keep dancing, running, crawling, and falling towards a better world – as long as it’s moving forward.
Sara
