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It is 2021, MMXXI, Yes, the Year of the Ox, The Year of the Future, the 21st Year of the 21st Century, and the 21st Year of the 3rd Millennium, my ten-year milestone of adulthood though it doesn’t feel like it.
Yes, I’m officially up there, and just as I’ve changed over the years, rights for women have evolved as well. We now have a Vice President, Women, Trailblazer, Kamala Harris, now sitting in the White House. But with this great change, we have so much more to go as far as women’s rights. Women are still being paid less than men, carry most of the childcare and household responsibilities, workplace stigmas, underrepresentation in leadership roles, domestic violence, sexual harassment, human trafficking, and rape culture. Women were faced with the issue of their child-caring rights that should be sole to women. Including pregnancy discrimination, this issue can make mothers feel scared when to tell their employers that they are with a child.
According to the British Medical Journal reports, sexual harassment in the workplace can lead to suicidal behavior amongst women in the workplace. Especially with the “ME TOO” movement, a period where workplace sexual harassment among women was being brought to the media, a huge light has been shed on workplace sexual harassment, which includes intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, and offensively disturbing women in the workplace.
Women are often called “sensitive or over-reactive” when addressing an issue that bothers them. There is a workplace bias when it comes to this because it makes women feel isolated and alone in their work environment. I remember once working for a company where I was the only African-American female employee in the office space. Around 10 PM, after unwinding from a long day in the office, my supervisor at the time will send me images and videos on SnapChat of BLACK hairstyles I should try. “I wish my hair could do this. . .it so unfair. . . you should really try this. . .,” she said. I mean, it would’ve been okay if it was just one or two images while I was in the moment of being around her. But to be bothered after work with hairstyles I should try, when Black hair is already a sensitive topic and she knows nothing about it’s texture. It was offensive and I felt isolated. Not to mention her and another colleague would talk about topics that were highly disrespectful to discuss in the workplace.
“I don’t understand the big deal in saying it!,” they murmured. (It is the N word that no one should say especially Caucasian people because of the deep rooted trauma associated with that word coming from that race of people.) I was 23 years old at the time and it was 2016, why was I expressing to two grown ASS women how uncomfortable, unjust, and just not right to ever say that word. Although, I do understand that we should educate each other on different cultural situations this response was a topic that any and everyone should understand why not to say. And if you don’t please educate yourself.
The topic of black women in the workplace is a whole other issue that needs addressing. Not only are we dealing with the already existing trauma of women’s rights, African-Americans feel it three times more. On average, Black women in the U.S. are paid 38% less than white men and 21% less than white women. According to research from LeanIn.Org and SurveyMonkey, Black women are almost twice as likely as white men to say that they’ve been laid off, furloughed, or had their hours and/or pay reduced because of COVID-19.
With the black women` often the breadwinner in their families, it’s time to close the gap. Women are exhausted from over-performing, over-educating themselves to sit in the same rooms as male counterparts, and overdoing our personalities just to “fit in”or “have a seat at the table.” We want the same rights as men and it’s time that large companies realize this. Yes some companies have been on board like Tory Burch, Fenty Beauty, HoneyPot, and Netflix, but there is so much more work to be done.
I am glad to be apart of a company that encourages women leaders and women employee resource group. Groups like this help women feel like they are apart of a secret sisterhood within the company that helps mold, mentor, and grow one another over workplace topics, lifestyle changes and career growth. Companies should strive to make employees feel comfortable in the workplace and give women the chance to have their voices heard thus offering a different perspective in day to day issues.
Let’s keep this conversation going: SHARE LIKE COMMENT.
How do you feel about women rights? The growth we’ve come so far? And where are we heading? What embarrassing moment caused you to feel isolated and alone in the workplace?