On Gender Equality and "Inadvertent Feminists"
Yesterday was Women’s Equality Day in the United States, commemorating the 1920 certification of the 19th amendment to our Constitution, granting women the right to vote. While the selection of August 26th is directly tied to an important date from the past, the discourse that I’ve seen online and in social media has been, quite rightly, aimed at the future. I’ve seen discussions about pay equity, and equal advancement opportunities, and workplace policies that enable women to contribute and progress in ways that are equal to their male counterparts. These are the discussions that we need to be having. Importantly, they are discussions that we all need to be having. Together.
One of the most moving things that I saw posted yesterday was a video of a speech given by Emma Watson in September, 2014[1]. She was addressing an assembly of the United Nations, at the launch of an initiative called “He for She”, which strives to involve men and women together in addressing issues of gender equality around the world[2]. In her speech, she talks about the overwhelming percentage of women who face inequality on a daily basis in one or more areas of their lives. She acknowledges her own privilege, saying:
“My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn’t assume that I would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influences were the gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today. They may not know it, but they are the inadvertent feminists who are changing the world today. We need more of those.”
Inadvertent feminists…I love that.
I love the idea of men stepping into the fight for gender equality, from an understanding that equality across the spectrum of gender benefits everyone. Watson addresses this on a human level, when she states:
“I want men to take up this mantle, so that their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice; but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too, reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned, and in doing so, be a more true and complete version of themselves.”
This is a beautiful idea, on a purely human level. It speaks to the ability of each of use to live into our authentic selves, and to do so unabashedly. And it’s a call to action to create that world. To create those expectations, and to dismantle outmoded definitions of what it means to be masculine or feminine.
This idea also makes sense in the workplace. As I continue to learn about diversity and inclusion (D&I), and I continue to work with colleagues and mentors to affect change in my organization, it’s clear to me that our work toward gender equality needs to include both women and men.
I had a meeting last week with one of our Vice Presidents, a woman who has been a sounding board and an advocate for the early work that our company has done in the D&I space. We were talking about a suite of curated learning content that focuses on female leaders, and the issues that they face as they seek career advancement. In our conversation, we agreed that this content will be an important addition to our employee development offerings. We also agreed that this needs to be promoted to our female and male employees. One could argue that a learning program called “Women in Action” is obviously aimed at women in the organization. But we see a real opportunity and need to promote this to our male employees for two reasons:
The leadership content that’s included in the program is just good leadership training – no matter where someone identifies on the gender spectrum.
Men in the organization will, at some point in their careers, have a female manager, or female coworkers, or female employees. And building an understanding of how we can work together to create opportunity for everyone is an important undertaking for every employee.
Lest it seem like this is purely a matter of opinion, I’d point to an ongoing study from Mercer, titled “When Women Thrive”.[3] In their 2016 report, the researchers describe a slow pace of movement toward gender equality, and they go into great detail describing the barriers that exist, and the industries and geographies where progress is being made. More importantly, they talk about tangible and active steps that organizations can take to close gaps in gender equality.
One of those steps is to involve men in the work toward gender equality. They state, “Engagement matters. Our research finds that organizations in which male actively support diversity and inclusion have higher female representation than those organizations in which men are not personally engaged.” They go on to cite that only 38% of organizations say that their male leaders are engaged in gender diversity efforts.
In a recent post, I talked about my growing understanding of the idea of privilege. And a key point that I’ve come to realize is that those who enjoy the benefits of privilege – in this case male privilege – have a key role to play in creating change. Without doubt, those who are denied equality are often the first to rise up and demand better. But there comes a point where those who benefit from disproportionate privilege need to join the fight. That doesn’t come easily, because sharing power, achieving equality, means that those who’ve enjoyed the fruits of having more need to be willing to give something up.
Equality, however, is not without gain for men. In her U.N. speech, Emma Watson points out the benefits that gender equality can provide for men. Likewise, the Mercer study talks about the ways in which both men and women benefit from more inclusive development opportunities and leave policies.
Ultimately, it’s not a conversation that can be driven by women alone, nor should it ever be driven by men alone. We need to move this forward together. Because we’re all stronger that way.
[1] Alicia Lutes, “Emma Watson’s #heforshe Speech Reminds Us That We’re All Better Together”, www.nerdist.com
[2] For more information, see www.heforshe.org.
