When women don’t get credit for their inventions, ideas, improvements, or achievements, it doesn’t make them automatic victims. Women are still the people who invented, in short, computer software, stem cell isolation, kevlar, marine signal flares, the fire escape, countless treatments for devastating diseases, and so on. It doesn’t mean that women not getting historic credit for their contributions to the improvement of the human race, justice, and sustainability for the environment is right — and we should be working to set the historic record straight, and give the credit for their contributions. But what can we do to highlight the accomplishments that are happening around us right now, in our workplaces and our communities, that may still be suffering under the shadow of “women’s work”? Here are some tactics to employ in daily life.
Put preconceptions on notice. Unfortunately, yes, it’s there. Even “woke” enlightened women in intersectional movements have to put energy into stepping outside of unconsciously reinforcing stereotypes. We’ve had several thousand years to develop this habit of minimizing women’s contributions, or taking credit for them outright, so it won’t disappear overnight.
When you hear a new idea, consider it as if it had been spoken by a computer, or printed on paper. Take it at face value first, and consider it. Then add the experience, expertise, and background of the speaker into account only after you have considered the idea purely on its own merit.
After that, take the third step and pretend person who had the idea is not the gender you know them to be, and observe whether your opinion or perspective changes. Write down your observation. This exercise is not designed to punish mindset or bias — rather, it is designed to help us learn how to look for our own bias, identify it, and take it into consideration while we work on eradicating it.
It can be a real shock to realize how much bias is baked into our language, and how meaning is made inside that language. For instance, think about the difference between “waitress” and “server.” The term server is easier, overall, because it can refer to a person waiting tables of any (or no) gender; but also, the term “waitress” probably calls up different imagery than “waiter”, even if the differences don’t seem so value-based on the surface. If “waitress” calls up a 1950’s diner maven with an apron and a “sure, Sugar” for every customer, you’ve just replicated a bias that includes capability, intellect, education, economic class, geographic location, and the perceived value of different types of work.
What you should or should not do: Being aware of bias inherent in portions of our language helps us stay aware of perspectives outside our own. Everyone unwittingly participates to some degree, including in acts of competition that can turn nasty, sometimes by a mechanism termed “horizontal hostility”. Be aware of potential pitfalls. Knowing how to recognize and constructively point out moments that reinforce inequality can make excellent teaching moments.
Shine your light. It’s also essential to make sure that everyone can see women succeeding and doing great things, across industries and across the world. As a person in a position of business power, you can increase women’s visibility by showcasing industry-leading women in a bi-monthly or quarterly intra-office email. You can offer internal hiring positions to qualifying women two weeks before you open hiring to a broader audience, and be a little bit more liberal with the opportunities you offer for advancement. Chances are, structurally, your business still inherently favors men more than women. Hint: if you’re wondering if your company has parity-hurting policies, look at maternity leave. Then look at the paternity leave policy (if you can find it.) Now make these policies better.
Abandon assumptions. Try not to assume that every woman cares about your maternity leave policy. Adopt methods of inquiry that include what individual women consider important, whether that’s a flexible vacation policy, the chance to work from home (for whatever set of reasons), the chance for continuing education or career advancement — the same way you’d encourage a promising male employee. Women are not gingerbread cookies, any more than men are. Take steps to ensure your organization recognizes and supports a broad spectrum of priorities.
Every year since 1911 we’ve celebrated International Women’s day. Even though we have made a ton of social progress since then, and every year sees another kind of win, we aren’t done yet. We can ensure increased equality, including parity, in our personal and professional lives.