Work Equity - Are we There Yet? - Part 1

Remember the episode of Friends where Rachel takes up smoking just so she can join her boss on smoke breaks???  Rachel was experiencing something most women in the work force have experienced; being excluded from decisions and/or opportunities because we weren’t included in the conversation.  Why weren’t we included in the conversation?  Because the conversation happened over the 6^th hole of the golf course or in front of the bosses office while a group of men stood around talking about golf, cigars, scotch, scratching their hairy balls or some other stereotypical male activity.  Now, if you remember correctly Rachel’s boss was a female, so ok one small media victory for women.  But this is an issue women talk about daily.  Do our male co-workers know they are excluding us?  Some might not, some don’t care, and obviously some know exactly what they are doing.  But that doesn’t really matter.  I have seen it happen time and time again.  Male Boss turns instinctively to male subordinate and asks him about his weekend golf score.  Conversations about birdies, clubs, and greens ensue, leading to an invitation from one to another for a shared weekend tee time.  Female subordinate stands in the distance and wishes she played golf, or if ballsy enough, pipes up and invites herself.  Do you think work won’t be discussed on that little man date?  Of course it will, and that male subordinate will be in the most prime position to scoop up any opportunities or express opinions.  He has the boss in a relaxed environment, and no doubt the boss will be in a good mood.

Ok ok, I know what some of you are thinking; there are women who play golf, drink scotch and smoke cigars (and genuinely enjoy it).  I am aware of this.  I was just using those things as examples because they are the most vibrant stereotypes and ones I have personally experienced.   But before you get angry that I am promoting party lines and that I buy into the fact that men do men things and women do women things, allow me to explain.  I know that men and women share common interest, obviously.  But I also don’t have my head in the sand.  Men and women are different.  And I don’t think feminism is about blending those differences, I think feminism is about accepting them and celebrating them and not valuing one set over another.  Feminists have often asked the question: “Is being a successful feminist a case of achieving in a man’s world?”  In order for that to happen do women have to become more like men?  Germaine Greer, noted feminist author, activist and leader, answered that question best in the documentary The F Word, “Are we assuming that the same size shoe is gonna fit?  In order to liberate women we have to preserve their difference.  Otherwise we’ll liberate them like we liberated Vietnamese villages; by destroying them.”

  I know that not all offices are divided like a junior high dance.  But my point is… it is still happening. And it happens all the time.  Men will always find reasons to relate to their male counterparts on a level that excludes females.  I know there are millions of lovely equal-opportunity work environments out there to prove me wrong.  And I think that is great.  I’m not even saying this is the norm (though I believe it to be, I just don’t have the stats to prove it). What I’m saying is that there are too many men out there in the work force, in positions of power, who don’t yet view women to be their equals.  And being mindful of that is important.  Teachers are inundated with lessons on how to avoid gender bias in the classroom.  Bosses/Management need the same training. 

Don’t kid yourself or be naïve.  Work equity is still a major issue in our world.  Perhaps you are lucky enough to be in an industry where you don’t feel it as much.  But that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.  We may have broken into the work force, but we haven’t shattered its glass ceiling yet. 

A Brief History of Feminism (a bare bones overview)

I was doing this as a side project, but thought it would be nice to share.  I know most of you know most of this, but it never hurts to revisit history to find out where we came from, how far we’ve come, and how much further there is to go.

If there is one cause women can agree on and band together for, it  is to reduce the idiocy of men.  And that is exactly what they did in the mid to late 1800’s during the Temperance Movement (Prohibition).  They believed that alcohol lead to violent and crazed behaviour and was destroying their men.  Weren’t they smart?  And so this marks the first time women got together for a cause.  They marched, held rallies, and like always, got the job done.

This taste of reform had lead to the realization that more changes were necessary.  It was time.  They had found their voice.  Once again, alcohol had caused women to be brazen and uninhabited, but this time no clothes came off, this time it was about creating impact.  They wanted to vote and own property.  They wanted independence.  And thus was born the Suffragette of the early 1900’s.  Saying that these women were a vocal minority is an understatement.  Not even other women were on their side yet.  But in 1918 after more heartache and sacrifice than we can imagine, their passion and stubbornness paid off, women in Canada were allowed to vote (1920 for the US). 

A sense of freedom rippled through a generation of young women.  Society was turned on its ear.  Flappers, women smoking cigarettes, speaking their mind.  The world was crazy.  And then (enter stage right) war.  Two in fact.  It was a tough time for everyone.  So desperate were we, that women were permitted to work.  Imagine, women, working, doing the same jobs the men were forced to leave.  And work they did.  Rosie the Riveter, bandannas, overalls.  It was a wonderful time in our history.  But like all good things, it came to an end.   Though happy the war was over, women were not so happy to be pushed out of their jobs. 

And as though none of it had even happened, women were back in the kitchen and more submissive than ever it seemed.  As some one looking back on history it feels like overnight women went from wrenches and greasy overalls to aprons and Electrolux vacuums.  Their main goal was to keep house and buy the latest, newest, flashiest appliances.  I actually knit my brows as I write this because I just don’t understand what happened to convince women that giving up their freedom was a better option than gaining independence.  But such were the 1950’s.  Women in pearls, drinking themselves to death in order to get through the day and suppress their urge to make a mark beyond their front porch. 

When the drinking wasn’t enough, they were ready for the Second Wave of Feminism in the 1960’s.  This is when women asked themselves “Is this all there is?”  And thus appeared such radical ballsy landmarks such as “The Feminine Mystique” – Betty Friedan , Ms Magazine – Gloria Steinem, “The Female Eunuch” – Germaine Greer.  Women were burning the bras that they felt shackled them to traditional roles.  Birth control allowed women to have sex freely without fear of pregnancy.  This was a generation of women who were determined not to end up like their mothers.  They wanted more, and allowed themselves to go for it.  It was glorious, a celebration of opportunity.  But it was serious business “make policy not coffee”.  They wanted reform.  It’s not just about dancing in a meadow with a short skirt, no bra and a wreath of flowers in your hair.  It was about Canada’s first publication of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women.  Finally the world was seeing the inequality, governments acknowledged it, abortion legislation was changed.  Progress was happening.

But the backlash was ugly.  These women (the leaders of this movement) were painted as man haters, and manipulative shrews.  In the 1980’s the media had decided to go against this movement and began casting feminists in an ugly unflattering light.  They ran stories about educated women not being able to find husbands.  That women were more unhappy now than ever before.  With the 80’s (and most women believe Reagan and his conservativism) came the end of an era for women’s lib. 

But if you haven’t noticed already, every ebb is answered by a flow.  The Third Wave of feminism hit in the 90’s.  This was more about inclusion: gay, straight, trans, all layers of the socioeconomic stratosphere, all races and creeds.  It was about being open minded and accepting.  It was about a call to action.  “Stand up women, we still have work to do”.    This is the generation raised by the Second Wave feminists of the 60’s.  They were raised to demand more, there was really no other option.

And now we must all decide if we (and I mean women and men) have more work to do.  Have previous generations done it all for us?  What’s left?  Have we reached the limit to equality?  Well I am afraid that if you are answering yes to those questions, you do not have a firm grip on reality.  We are still being underpaid and undervalued, especially in North America.  There is more to be done my friends.  We just might not feel the urgency of it because of all the work these great women did before us. 

But be aware that in Canada we are currently slipping backward under the current Harper gov’t (barf).  In the 2005 World Economic Forum that investigated the global gender gap, Canada was ranked #7.  This report measured how well a country’s resources were divided among men and women.  In 2010 a second report was published and we ranked #20.  For the first time we were behind the US.   Why the dramatic drop?  Because of the incredible cuts in funding to women related agencies: emergency crisis centres, advocacy, affordable housing, planned parenthood, etc. 

But just so you know, we can fix this…