Why we need feminism at work

My oldest daughter turned 18 yesterday. I have two other teenage daughters and a wife. In fact, I am the only man in our household, and I love it. Mainly because I learn so much from being forced to see the world through the eyes of smart, brave and insightful women. And what I see when I do this frankly infuriates me.

Three stories stood out for me in the media just this past week. I will share them without much commentary, except to say that if you don’t understand why these stories make me angry, then you need to find a way to get a better feminine (feminist?) perspective on the world:

• To celebrate women’s day a statue titled “Fearless Girl” was installed opposite the imposing Bull that is the symbol of Wall Street in Lower Manhattan (see image). A wonderful celebration of women. But it wasn’t too long before it attracted abuse. Just this past weekend, a Wall Street banker was photographed pretending to rape the statue – see story here. If we say “it’s just a guy joking around” we’re saying that child rape is a laughing matter.
  
  

• Marissa Mayer didn’t live up to the hype and promise as CEO of Yahoo. It may have been her fault, it may have been that she was handed a dud company that no-one could have done anything with. Either way, her time is up and she’s been replaced. By a man. Who has been given a base salary literally and exactly double hers. Read the story here. Unlike other men who just have to guess and fantasize as to the value of their manhood, I guess Thomas McInerney is lucky enough to know precisely how much his penis is worth. Forbes explains the issue nicely, with details of the (ahem) packages.
  

• I don’t even know how to explain this final story. Just read it and weep. “He Swapped Email Signatures With a Female Co-Worker, and Learned a Valuable Lesson.”
  

Our team at TomorrowToday does a lot of work on the issue of Difference. Not diversity. Difference. We don’t help companies sort out their diversity compliance issues, or tick representation boxes. We help those companies who really want to to get the benefits of engaging with difference, of seeing the world through multiple lenses and of making sure that different voices are heard, valued and allowed to add value.

See our “Leading Difference” work here.