Friday, February 27, 2015
Women In Power: The Impact of Critical Mass
The discussion was framed around the topic of "critical mass," which moderator Newton-Small defined as the tipping point between male and female representation in any forum; in order to make a measurable impact on outcomes, women need at least 20% - 30% representation, and more critically, in senior positions that allow them to influence change . She noted that women do not often achieve critical mass, whether in Congress, on executive boards, in corporate meeting rooms or on supreme courts. All three panelists agreed that reaching a point of critical mass within their respective sectors is integral to enacting change on a national level.
One of the most interesting topics brought up throughout the discussion was the difference between women's roles in the private sector vs the public sector, i.e.. women's roles in the "corporate world" vs the federal government. Women currently represent 20% of Congress and 35% of federal courts, but in corporations, women have been consistently stuck at 17%. Amy Schulman speaks from a business perspective on the different dynamics of women's leadership in the corporation world:
"In the corporate world, if you are seen as the emblem of a point of view, thats actually going to hinder your ultimate chances for advancement…I think that dynamic of critical mass is what allows for authenticity because instead as being seen as that epiphenomenon, you are actually free to express your range of views that you may have and it is harder to marginalize you."
Jeanne Shaheen also shared many of her experiences as one of 20 females in the Senate, starting with her efforts to re-open the government during its shutdown in 2013. An informal bipartisan group, primarily comprised of women, met on its own to find a compromise to the shutdown issue. This was a great example of the power of critical mass for women; what little did get done during that Congressional session was done by women.
"It was our efforts that pressured the leadership on both sides of the aisle to come to some agreement...It was that relationship that the women in the Senate had; that we trusted each other, we knew each other and we were able to say, 'we can find a way out of this, we can find a compromise.'"
To listen to the full forum discussion and audience questions visit:
http://forum.iop.harvard.edu/content/women-power-impact-“critical-mass”
Pictured below: MWPC Intern, Kaitlyn Maloney, at the JFK Forum with NH Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
Academy Awards Recap
This
year’s Academy Awards was
more than just recognition for artistic talent, it also was an opportunity to
voice pressuring gender and racial issues.
As
usual, the start of the Oscars included a warm welcome and a fashion show down
on the red carpet. For many years prior, celebrities have decked themselves out
with stylish gowns, jewelry and suits. However, Reese Witherspoon started a
social media movement called #AskHerMore: a campaign that urges reporters to
ask female celebrities more substantial questions rather than fashion and
gossip.
The
typical question a female celebrity is asked is “who are you wearing tonight?” unlike male celebrities, who are asked the same question
but are also asked about their experiences, roles, accomplishments, or talents
in the industry. The #AskHerMore was created by the Representation Project to
have reporters focus less on an actress’
appearance and more on her accomplishments.
This
campaign created arguments such as, “#AskHerMore
seems to me to be the celebrity version of having it all - another manifesto of
the pressure on women to be everything at all times”. Critics of the movement are calling it “anti-feminist” because it pressures the
female community to not only be pretty, but to be smart as well. Events such as
the Oscars are already known to be frivolous and materialistic, so why frown
upon the question “who are you wearing tonight?” Also,
many designers and talented people were not able to be recognized by their
talents because of this movement. Usually, designers get recognition through
these kinds of events, yet their names were not mentioned that night.
The
highlight of the night was Patricia Arquette’s acceptance speech as she won Best Supporting Actress for her
role in Boyhood. As she thanked the producers, cast, and the public, she
ended her speech with a powerful statement. “To every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen
of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s
out time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in
the United States of America”.
Arquette
gives light to the issue of unequal pay in the labor force. Studies have shown
that on average, women get paid 73% of their male’s counterpart salary.
It’s time for women. Equal means
equal. The truth is the older women get, the less money they make. The highest
percentage of children living in poverty are in female-headed households. It’s inexcusable that we go around
the world and we talk about equal rights for women in other countries and we
don’t. It’s time for all the women in
American, and all the meant that love women and all the gay people and all the
people of color that we’ve
all fought for to fight for us now”.
Although she gave light to a pressuring issue in the United
States, Arquette received a lot of critiques from the LGBT community and the
people of color. Her statement suggested that the gay community and the people
of color achieved equality while women have not. Criticism such as “Feminism
being a movement for white women’s rights, not all women’s
rights” aroused,
which made LGBT community and the people of color hesitant to join the movement
fearing exclusion.
Nevertheless, we should not focus so much on how the message was
delivered, but that it WAS delivered. Women in the labor force do not get the
same pay as men. Women and men are still not treated equally in the workforce
and, despite numerous advances, women face different, and unequal working
conditions. The message that Arquette tries to deliver is that all women do not
have the same level of treatment and recognition for the same work in the same profession.
It is harder for a woman to get hired at high level positions, it is harder for
women to get hired and get maternity leave, and it is harder for women to
secure a job in the future once she starts a family
All in all, the Oscars is one the most popular awards ceremony
that is watched on a global level. Every year, millions of people gather around
to watch as their favorite celebrities and movies get the recognition they
deserve. It is great to know that these kinds of high profile events are giving
attention to pressuring social issues, such as gender equality.
Friday, February 20, 2015
Congratulations, Ayanna Pressley!
Here are some interesting facts to know about Ayanna:
- She is the first woman of color to be elected into the council in it's 100 year history.
- After her election, Pressley formed a new committee, the Committee on Women & Healthy Communities.
- Out of 15 candidates in the 2009 election, she was the only female candidate. She was elected with nearly 42,000 votes.
- Before running for election, she served as John Kerry's Political Director after having worked on his campaign as a senior aide for years.
- She is a "Big Sister" with the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston.
To learn more about Ayanna, read her biography on the official website of the city of Boston:
http://www.cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/councillors/pressley.asp
Leaders Talk Strategy: Our Top 5 Favorite Quotes
The World Economic Forum currently predicts that it will take another 80 years to achieve true leadership parity between males and females. That's certainly not soon enough for co-founders Gloria Feldt and Amy Litzenberger of the women's non-profit, Take the Lead. The two women started this organization with the mission of "preparing, developing, inspiring and propelling women to take their fair and equal share of leadership positions across all sectors by 2025." Take the Lead has been promoting its #25not95 campaign to meet this goal of reaching leadership parity 70 years sooner than predicted. What's not to love about that?
They asked both men and women leaders across all sectors:
What is one thing we can do now that will help us reach leadership parity by 2025?
Here are our top 5 favorite responses:
1. We can involve men. If men
understand the importance of modern leadership skills like humility,
collaboration, empathy, and compassion (as detailed in my book, The Athena
Doctrine), they can see how having more women leaders is a
business imperative.
- JOHN GERZEMA, CHAIRMAN
& CEO, BAV CONSULTING
2. In the United States, we
can pass the Equal Rights Amendment and
elect a woman president; and everywhere, we can give girls and young women
laptops brimming with math and science software. - CAROL JENKINS, WRITER, FOUNDING PRESIDENT of THE WOMEN’S
MEDIA CENTER
3. We can disrupt the status
quo by making women
visible and powerful in media and thereby more visible and powerful
in society.
- JULIE BURTON, PRESIDENT,
THE WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER
4. One thing you can do is
recognize the need for, and value of, voices and experiences that are entirely
different from yours as the way to find true success.
- LEON SILVER, PARTNER, GORDON & REES, LLP
5. We can do what women do
best—collaborate across organizations so that we can reach the critical mass
necessary to change the world.
- AMY LITZENBERGER,
CO-FOUNDER, TAKE THE LEAD
Friday, February 13, 2015
After 50 Years, Supreme Court Justice Pushes Forward in the Fight for Women's Rights
Throughout her career, she has ruled cases over topics such as pay discrimination, abortion restrictions and college admissions for women, making her an unstoppable force on the quest for gender equality that has caught the eye of many liberals and young activists. Those who are most difficult to influence, however, are her male colleagues, she said, "who haven't had the experience of growing up female." Having faced discrimination from the day after she graduated from Columbia Law School, a class of nine females amongst 500 males, she makes it a priority to teach her colleagues to appreciate the obstacles women often face throughout their lifetime.
Justice Ginsburg's voice will be heard loud and clear during the upcoming court cases on gay marriage, health-care laws and perhaps one of the most important issues for women across the country, the workplace rights of pregnant women. Hopefully, we can expect to see some legal change in the imminent future on these important social issues.
For more details about Justice Ginsberg's career, and to watch her interview with Bloomberg, visit:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-02-12/ruth-bader-ginsburg-isn-t-giving-up-her-fight-for-women-s-rights?hootPostID=c888c76f3542353a86c3fc143b48a152
Friday, February 6, 2015
#LikeAGirl
One of this year's most talked about commercials was an advertisement for the feminine hygiene company, Always. The commercial brought light to the phrase, "like a girl," particularly for its common use as an insult. The commercial spoke volumes about the ways society has grown to disempower women, girls and their skills and abilities. When asked to do something "like a girl" such as run, fight or throw, teenagers and young adults responded by acting out the movements in a weak, pathetic manner. In contrast, when young girls were asked to perform the same actions "like a girl" they responded by completing the tasks with all of their strength, power and energy.
The lesson: When we use this phrase, we teach girls that they are incapable and weak; that they are not as strong or as capable as their male counterparts. Eventually, they start to believe it, especially when they hear it during their more vulnerable years (from ages 10 - 12), as they try to find themselves.
Immediately after the commercial, social media buzzed with the hashtag #LikeAGirl, serving as an outlet for women to share what makes them strong.
Here are a couple tweets that serve as great examples of the hashtag:
To read more, click here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/03/why-like-a-girl-is-so-important_n_6598970.html
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Things to know about Attorney General Maura Healey!
Those at the MWPC were first introduced to Maura
Healey in the beginning of 2014 shortly after she announced her campaign to run for Attorney General of
Massachusetts. MWPC board member Amy Burke insisted we meet with this fantastic
woman and later in the year, Amy would serve on the Healey campaign's
fundraising team. After the election, the Attorney
General-elect hired
Amy to plan the inauguration of "The People's Lawyer"
at the historic Faneuil Hall which was held this past January. Filled with
long-time supporters and volunteers, as well as fellow power players in
Massachusetts politics, the Globe quoted a Republican insider in an article this
week stating “That, with a dollop of exasperation and a pinch of healthy regard,
was the inauguration of the governor of the Democratic Party.” It was a
tremendous affair marking the end of a hard won campaign and the beginning of
Maura Healey's term as Attorney General, where she will tackle tough challenges
such as opiate addiction and for-profit colleges.
Here are
some interesting things to know about Attorney General Maura Healey:
- Maura was Chief of the Civil Rights Division in the Attorney General's Office.
- Maura led the nation’s first successful challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the federal law that discriminated against same-sex married couples.
- She also defended the Massachusetts Buffer Zone law and protected women’s access to reproductive health care.
- Healey graduated from Harvard in 1992 and received her JD from Northeastern University.
- Considered an underdog when she first entered the race, Healey defeated former state senator Warren Tolman in the Democratic Primary with 62.5% of the votes.
- During her campaign she broke a fundraising record for a first time, female state-wide candidate to raise more than 1 million dollars - she raised $1.5 million!
- As part of her swearing in ceremony, the Attorney General also had to swear in over 200 assistant attorneys general.
- Her swearing in ceremony, held at Faneuil Hall, was at maximum capacity of 800 guests. In addition, nearly 200 people watching the ceremony streamed live from the Omni Parker House Hotel.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
