We are coming to the end of Women's History Month, and having featured many women making history in our every day lives, I know we are not at the end, but just at the beginning of this new arch of innovation. Seeing so many young women entrepreneurs is a great cause for celebration. It is, however, important to remember where we have been. For those who didn't live through it, MIT Professor Nancy Hopkins, (pictured left), who holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Harvard and was recently awarded the Margaret L. Kripke Legend Award from the University of Texas, gives an excellent short explanation of what's happend in the last 50 years in an article by Eric Berger on chron.com. Another article covering the history of Title IX, written by Steve Wulf for ESPN W, also explains how far we have come in encouraging and enabling young women in the forty years since that law was passed. And now we need women in all areas to stand up and not allow us to be "stalled". We need to influence the media for better coverage of women. If we go to the movies do we see the strong women we have just read about? No, we can see a hit movie about a woman who fought against stereotypes, but she is portrayed as senile, with her achievements overshadowed by what it's like to be old. Or we can watch the Titanic sink again because of it's 100th anniversary (at least give us something different like a film about the Carpathia where sailors risked their lives to carry the Titanic survivors to safety.) I don't mind the vampires and the comedies, but there should be at least some movies about the interesting women who fought for Title IX and equal rights. Where are the bio pics of women athletes? Where are the movies about the women who sacrifice every day to make things work for their families? Young women need role models and often look to films to find them. The industry should take this responsibility more seriously.
I'm sure it's hard to imagine what it was like when there were no teams to play on, and no seats at the table (in fact, getting in the room was tough enough and I remember when they made us go in the back door!), and I'm glad those times are over. A recent study in California shows the gender pay gap disappearing, and more women than men earning
degrees. But will we ever stop hearing excuses like there aren't enough women for executive jobs, or board of directors seats? If you just put your industry in the NewsonWomen search box you will see plenty of candidates qualified for top jobs and board seats. The NewsonWomen search engine is full of thousands of women who are ready for bigger opportunities. And, speaking of opportunity, when will we get our first woman President, even though international women have been running countries overseas for years? Will it be a business woman like Sheryl Sandberg or one of our women governors like Nikki Haley (pictured right)? And are we finally going to see the end of the old boys club with Ginni Rometty getting invited to join Augusta, the "men only" club where IBM CEO's have belonged for years? I can't wait to see!
Recent Comments