I am sad and dismayed that WXN chose to name their upcoming women’s leadership conference “What Glass Ceiling?”
It not only suggests there is no “real” glass ceiling but also says that the women who are presenting at the event did not even notice it as they blasted through it! I know this title sounds catchy and funny but its not really. Not to me.
I was told my entire professional life as a lawyer and professor (20 plus years) that I needed to simply pretend there was no glass ceiling. I was shamed if I ever spoke about discrimination, sexism or feminism. I was told that women have totally arrived. Duh! This of course is all lies, but as a vulnerable young women climbing the corporate ladder I (almost) believed it.
What I did not know, but now do, is that this type of RHETORIC it is one of the major tools used to silence women. We are told that if a handful of over achieving, higly ambitious and deeply connected and funded women can make it, that so can any women. If you are not at the top, its your own fault, not policies, laws and sexism. So we slink behind our desks too afraid to tell the truth about our lives.
By saying “What Glass Ceiling” we ignore the statistics that show women’s power is actually eroding. Just count the CEOs, politicians and high earners. In another blog, I will explain why its important to talk about the glass ceiling (see December 27).
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