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March 8th is International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate the achievements of women across the globe. It is also a day to acknowledge that these achievements happened despite economic, social, cultural, political, and legal barriers. While today we celebrate and amplify the accomplishments of women both in history and from the present day, International Women’s Day is also a call to action– especially to those who hold the most privilege and social capital in our society.
Due to gender bias, women are discouraged from engaging in self-promotion and advocacy. When they dare to break these cultural norms, they risk admonishment and reprisal for being “aggressive” versus “assertive” or “bitchy” versus “direct” or “self-serving” versus “a team player.” They face backlash, even though men are praised for “cutting through the bullsh*t,” “telling it like it is,” or having “clear expectations.”
Additionally, women are less likely to experience pay equity. And women of color are more likely to experience compounded pay inequity due to the intersection of gender and race. According to LeanIn.org’s analysis of its research on the state of women at work, “Women are having a worse experience in the workplace than men. Women of color are having a worse experience than white women. And Black women in particular are having the worse experience of all.”
Women are penalized for self-promotion and being ambitious, and the effect is compounded when race is factored into the equation. Moreover, this effect is rarely addressed in professional self-help books (which generally center the experiences of white men in the workplace) or professional self-help books for women (which mostly center the experiences of white women in the workplace). There are few that center the unique experiences of women of color in the workplace or specifically navigating Misogynoir in the workplace. Therefore, reading the books not meant for women of color or Black women and executing on these strategies can (and often do) backfire. For example, many years ago, in processing salary adjustments, I learned a few colleagues were granted salary increases for taking on additional work. During the same time (you guessed it), I was also assigned a new and significant body of work but did not receive a bump in salary like my colleagues. I grappled for weeks about whether or not to raise the issue with my manager. When I did, I was ultimately admonished for being “self-serving” and “using my position for personal gain” instead of the manager addressing the pay-equity issue– or if they did not have the authority to close the pay disparity, then to use their social capital to advocate for justice. Instead, they painted me (and encouraged others to view me) as a dishonest, aggressive angry Black woman who should have never raised the issue. Instead, I should have accepted the pay disparity or waited for someone else to raise it on my behalf– which would have been the people who already knew about it but let it slide.
Much of the “well-meaning advice” many women receive to conquer sexism and oppression in the workplace is rooted in the belief that it is women’s sole responsibility to fight and navigate it. Misogynoir? Black women, you guessed it, it’s our responsibility to fight and navigate it. Women suffering from Imposter System? Right again, we’re tasked to fight and navigate it alone. Women, women of color, and particularly, Black women, have been fighting and navigating sexism and Misogynoir in the workplace “since the workplace been working.” It is not the targets of inequality’s sole responsibility to achieve gender equity. And of course, we have to fight feelings of inadequacy because women are constantly being told we are inadequate– duh! This is why I detest the term imposter system. But I digress…
So, this International Women’s Day, I offer this call to action:
There is much to do before we can sleep and before we achieve equity and justice in our society as well as the organizations that exist within… so stay “woke” and I invite you on this journey.
