Let's Give Women Some Power

According to a study done by the Center for American Progress, women make up a majority of the U.S. population. They earn 60 percent of undergraduate degrees and 60 percent of all master’s degrees. In addition, women also hold almost 52 percent of all professional-level jobs.

Yet, while they are 44 percent of the overall labor force, they are only 36 percent of first-level or mid-level officials and managers, and only 25 percent of executive and senior-level officials and managers. Women also hold only 20 percent of board seats and are only 6 percent of CEOs in U.S. companies. This discrepancy of women not in senior or executive level positions in the work force extends across all industries: law partners, medical school deans, and CEOs (Corley & Warner).

At the same time that women aren’t reaching these high-power and high-level positions in the workforce, instances of sexual assault and harassment are continuing to increase due to the inherent societal foundation that places men in control of their female employees’ careers and bodies. In order to help prevent these instances of sexual assault and harassment, we need more women in high-level positions in the workforce across the board so that this societal acceptance of female inferiority vanishes.

One of my favorite riddles goes as follows:

A father and son are in a car accident. The father dies instantly, and the son is taken to the nearest hospital. The doctor comes in and exclaims, “I can’t operate on this boy.”

“Why not?” the nurse asks. “Because he’s my son,” the doctor responds.

How is this possible?

When you play this riddle to a group of people, you typically will get responses such as that the boy is adopted or the boy’s parents are gay.

The answer is that the doctor is the boy’s mother.

When solving this riddle, and in life, we might not mean to be sexist. However, when we think of positions of power or authority we automatically attribute these positions to be for men. It is a foundation constructed in our society.

Over the past couple of weeks, testimonies of sexual assault have flooded the news. Largely in response to the report from The New York Times that featured stories detailing decades of allegations of sexual harassment against Harvey Weinstein. The horrifying stories led actress Alyssa Milano to use her Twitter account to encourage women who’d been sexually harassed or assaulted to tweet the words #MeToo. The hashtag was meant to simply give people a sense of the problem of sexual assault and harassment. Not only in Hollywood but in all areas of the work force. Within 24 hours, the hashtag had been tweeted nearly half a million times (BBC).

As a young woman in my twenties, the stories are horrifying to hear because it shows how common situations of sexual assault and harassment are in the workplace. These last several weeks have made me question what I can do to help the problem. The problem is, I can’t do anything. I have no power. The solution comes from those in the positions of power.

Those with the power, whether they are male or female, an executive in Hollywood, head of department in an academic department at a university, or run Starbucks chain must simply do their part to change the foundation of society that tell us women are powerless and men are powerful.

The only way to ensure that women are protected from the horrible situations that the women who came out against Harvey Weinstein had to endure is by placing women in positions of power in jobs across all industries. Placing women in positions of power does three things: it starts to build a norm that women can be and are powerful leaders, it provides young women with role models to aspire to, and it gives women a comfortable space to speak out and condemn acts of sexual harassment.

The increase of these conversations about the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault that are coming in result of the #MeToo campaign has brought to light the impact that having women in higher-level positions of power at companies can have. In addition, the instance of Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo have brought attention to the role that our society has in placing only men in power and control, while women are left in positions in which they are to deal with being left in positions of weakness in comparison.

Conversation is great and progress is happening, but not fast enough. It is estimated that at the current rate, it will take until 2085 for women to reach equality with men in leadership roles across the United States. That isn’t fast enough.

The reality is, is that this is this integral change in our society is in the hands of the CEOs, the managers, the HR supervisors. Women are already vying for the promotions but we need their supervisors to help them reach these promotions. Placing women in powerful leadership roles will not only help to prevent the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment and create more equality. Having more women in higher-level roles in the workplace will also help to create an integral change in our society that sees women as capable, powerful, and as leaders.

Citations:

“Harvey Weinstein Timeline: How the Scandal Unfolded.” BBC News, BBC, 3 Nov. 2017,

www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41594672.

Corley, Danielle, and Judith Warner “The Women's Leadership Gap.” Center for American

Progress, 21 May 2017, www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2017/05/21/432758/womens-leadership-gap/.