Pigs were flying and hell froze over yesterday. My husband and I found ourselves with a house to ourselves after my parents volunteered to take our two monkeys for the night. Not having been in this situation for…um…ever…we decided to embrace it. So we ordered take out and settled in to watch the first season of Mad Men – something we had wanted to do for over a year since our friends lent it to us (is it still officially lending if its been a year?). And for those of you who know me that is not all we did but I’m keeping this blog clean, so get your mind out of the gutter.
Mad Men Season One horrified me, made me giggle uncontrollably, and overall was a total delight! And while I wish to God I could say that today’s workplace has nothing in common with that insanely misogynistic, over the top good-old-boys club when I’m perfectly honest with myself I just can’t. We have undeniably come a long way, baby. But the vestiges of a time less politically correct still linger just below the surface in corporate America. And while some of these are hard for us as women to control. I want us to at least own the ones that we can control and promise to actually do something about them.
It’s a fact that women still earn less than men – anywhere from 9 percent less to 77 cents to every man’s dollar earned. And women are still grossly underrepresented at the executive and board level. Only 4.2 percent of Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs.
But let’s not blame the boys – at least completely. That’s too easy and it lets us shrug off our responsibility for perpetuating these conditions. Because quite frankly I think our under-payment and under-representation should make us mad. Like mama bear mad. But why aren’t we protesting in the streets, or boycotting companies until We see more women in decision-making roles or paying us equal wages for equal work? Where’s our sense of injustice? Why aren’t we incensed at the indignity of leading only four-point-freaking-two-
How often do we read labels to make sure the food we are buying for our children is organic, or pesticide free, or never tested on animals? Wouldn’t it be great if products had a label letting us know the company that produces the widgets we buy also has a female CEO or pays its employees equally regardless of gender? Wouldn’t supporting that kind of company be as beneficial to our children – especially to our daughters – as making sure their veggies were grown locally?
So here’s a challenge to all moms out there. Today, get on Yahoo (and yes that was a nod to Marissa Mayer) and find just one company that is run by a woman that produces something you normally buy for your family and then commit to buying it next time you need it. I’ll even make it easy and give you a list I found helpful: http://www.catalyst.org/
Because it’s up to us, ladies! We can do this! As an amazing female leader, Mahatma Gandhi, once said: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Let’s be that change.
If you like my blog you’ll love my book. Buy The Working Mommy’s Manual on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Working-Mommys-Manual-Nicole-Corning/dp/0615637418/ref=cm_sw_em_r_dp_6ZRcqb0QFT7P8_tt
 |
For laughter and inspiration read my book The Working Mommy's Manual, available on Amazon.
Buy Online Now!