#GAReads | Speak up, because when enough women keep their loud, soft, slow, fast voices, we become the norm
photo credit: Clem Onojeghuo, via Unsplash
“Speak up, because when enough women keep their loud, soft, slow, fast voices, we become the norm”:
I debated whether to write something for International Women’s Day.
But as we struggled to represent women in our daily coverage, as well as people of colour, we learned how women often think doing their primary job is more important than speaking publicly in their professional sphere. Since men generally don’t feel that same compunction, it’s challenging to include female voices on panels, in interviews and stories. Even more challenging than it already is, with so few women in positions of power in the organizations we often report on: as CEOs, on boards, in the justice system, in politics.
When you don’t see those faces and hear those voices, you get a skewed sense of who matters in society, and who decides what matters. You get a skewed sense of what leadership looks like, sounds like, and acts like. And that can turn into structural beliefs that impact everything from jury assumptions on how assaulted women are “supposed” to react to who can effectively run a meeting, a company, or a country.