Leadership

When I watched Miss Representation, there were many concepts and facts that stood out to me, one of which was the lack of female leadership. The vast majority of our government leaders are made up of men. And the small percent of women who do appear in leadership are not taken seriously. Women are judged and ignored as the general public rally behind men. Women are judged for what they where, how they look, how they speak, and what they say. If a woman leader wants to be taken seriously, she must wear something fashionable but not too revealing, wear just enough makeup so that her appearance looks "pretty" but not too artificial. She must do everything perfectly and once she has done this, she will still be criticized. As I said in my previous blog post, it is never enough. She will always have a certain flaw that makes her less qualified than the male opponent even though they are equal. Women fight so hard for a chance to help lead and contribute to society but they must work ten times harder in order to have the same opportunities as men. But why is misogyny so prevalent especially with female leaders? It is because the media spreads these ideas and plants seeds of doubt into or subconscious. There are so many people whose initial response to female leaders is doubt but are they even aware of why? If people were aware of their subconscious decisions, would they still identify with this sexist mindset?

This same concept appears in news reporters. Almost all women who work as news reporters are pretty by societal standards. And just as women leaders, they are not taken seriously. They too are scrutinized and ignored. No matter the job, we always see this theme where women have to fight to be heard. To be understood. To be recognized. And though we have made progress there is still so much more that needs to change before everyone is considered equal.