Blog #30

Conventionally and structurally, men are perceived to be as natural leaders therefore, when a man is running for office or for a position of leadership we do not question his capabilities or competence to take on said responsibility whereas if a woman finds herself in the same position, there is a degree of critique, questioning and doubt. It was mind boggling to have learned how long it has taken for women to gain legitimacy and credibility. And for only half of the country to think that the U.S. is ready for a woman president clearly states that as a society we still continue to embed our trust in men because for centuries they have been the leaders. Although women have made significant strides academically as exemplified by the panelists they have been offered less than equal opportunity in the workplace to make progress. Dr. Rhodie listed the following statistics: women are a majority in the electorate but only hold 15% of congressional seats, half of college graduates but less than a quarter of professors, a third of MBA holders but less than two percent of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies more than half of law school entrants but less than five percent of partners in law firms, deans or judges. In addition, judging by the gendered jokes that are written, it is even more evident that society in general particularly in areas where men dominate, no one takes notice that women are excluded.
Men are expected to do what it takes to get things done while they are in positions of leadership whereas women who decide to take similar roles or exercise behavior that exemplifies leadership, they are deemed to be mean and nasty, deceiving, conniving, manipulative or if they opt out of making decisions, they are considered to be unwilling or unable, emotional whereas men naturally are expected to exhibit dominance and authority again without question.
The stereotypes associated with men are quite different than those associated with women. Again men are expected to be committed to their work, available, willing, dominant and authoritative. A woman unfortunately is held to a different and higher standard as a woman with children is perceived to be less committed, less able and less competent. The joke that she speaks about a father having to pick up his child is obviously one that is out of the norm and that is not expected as the comments that father received were, “that’s a new kind of father” meaning that it is not the role of dads to pick up their children. I ask, why not?! Personally, I believe both mom and dad should be equally as responsible because not only are more parents working in the 21st century but it is almost necessary to be able to provide for the family. I understand that women still continue to be Wonder Women because I agree that women will be unable to run the world unless the men are willing to run the washer and dryer.
I further agree that the workplace is failing women more than women are failing their work place because corporate America has not yet been willing to offer flexible and realistic schedules that working women need so that they can continue to work, be a parent and a homemaker as it does not appear that the stereotype and expectation is going away anytime soon.
Fortunately, women who have had the opportunity to take on responsibilities of leadership are making good decisions from a different perspective (a woman’s) and therefore making a different impact than those of her male counterpart and by doing so, she is making the workplace more family friendly and permit more women to enter so that they too could one day have the opportunity to be leaders. Similarly, in law firms, there are so few women that it becomes increasingly difficult for other women to enter as they are unable to relate or find advisors and guiders that have faced the same obstacles and challenges as a woman in a male dominant field.
Personally, I prefer a woman in a position of leadership, more specifically, a working mother or wife as she would be more understanding with her fellow female subordinates. As an example, my daughter had a stomach bug this past week and I was late to work four out of five days. One day in particular, we woke up to poop and puke NINE times and I didn’t think that I would be able to make to work but I feel that the organization expects me to come to work anyway (I did) because I made a personal choice to have children. I think that because we do live in a patriarchal society, policies have been developed from a male’s perspective and as a result they are NOT family friendly, and that is unfortunate.