Feminism, Higher Education, Communication

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I did it! I published my first blog post. That post of about a thousand words started as more than twenty-five-hundred-word essay. So, not only did I have to change the tone of the writing for my new audience but I also had to cut-out concepts in order to reduce the word count. This meant I was essentially creating a new, but similar, thesis statement. I underestimated the amount of work it would take, so this was a bit of an eye-opener in terms of respecting the blogging community and the work they do.

The Pre-Blog Assignment

The original assignment for my English class was a six to eight-page synthesis of four sources. We had to choose a section from our book (either technology, inequality, or gender) and read articles within the section to pick a broad theme. I read articles from each and then settled on gender for my theme. I met with my professor to discuss the paper and she helped me come up with my specific topic; the lack of women in leadership in comparison to the abundance of women in higher education.

Getting Rid of Excess

Our next assignment was to take that paper and turn it into a blog post of a thousand words. As I said, this was no cake walk. It was pretty much an entirely new piece with a different premise and some of the same sources to support it. But, when I started writing it I didn’t realize how different it would be. Cut out the first seven hundred words by taking out any mention of women in the educational system. I knew my argument about women in leadership could not have that much specificity. So even though it added some complexity to my opinion, I had to cut it out.

That’s when I started having trouble. I didn’t know what was critical to my thesis because I was still trying to make the same multi-faceted argument as my seven-page paper had made. Once I cut off some fat from my paper I was able to focus on the importance of women in leadership.

With a new thesis statement at my fingers tips I was able to pick and choose what evidence would support it. Even though I couldn’t use as all of evidence I wanted to, I was still able to make my point and provide evidence.

Changing Octaves

In addition to finding a new thesis I had to use a voice that my audience of younger, tech-capable, liberals would be comfortable with. It was like changing octaves, I still wanted to play the same note, but I had to jump up an octave so my readers would hear it. As I was

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rewriting I subtly changed words and phrases to construct a more conversational tone. I would change a however to a but and an additionally to an also. I did not want to compromise the statements by making them too casual, but I wanted it to be accessible to the casual blog reader who probably doesn’t want to decipher complex sentences.

Designing the Blog Posts

And I have saved the best for last. Though this may disappoint my professor (I’m sorry, Dr. Lueck), my favorite part of blogging was the design aspect. Not only did I find it entertaining to craft the home page and aesthetic of my blog, but also to manipulate the design of the text.  I got to find images that furthered my piece while giving the text an eye-catching shape. Not to mention, I had the chance to experiment with subtitles which give

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text shape, organize my thoughts on the page, and help keep the reader’s interest.

All of these design elements meant that, for once, I could use my passion for visual art in my writing. As a photographer I work with moving the eye of the viewer so this was just another application of that skill. The main goal for a blog is to get the eye to move down the page. To design my blog, I looked at it as if I were taking a photo of it. How would an image in the center of the text effect the shape of text? Would a subtitle here give the text a pleasing shape? If all the images were on the left would the page seem uneven? Solving problems like that is something I find entertaining and satisfying.

What I realized in actually writing my first blog was that it takes both the skills of a writer and an artist.  The writer side of you must know how to speak to the audience, because the writing is more than sloppy opinions slapped on a page. And your inner designer must  tinker with the text and images before it becomes effective. Whether you are a writer, an artist, or neither,  you can learn these skills. In fact, blogging is a safe space to practice these skills without high stakes.

Throughout history there have been movements to foster equality. These gave us equality through women’s right to vote and by stopping racial segregation. And, yes, today people are treated more fairly than a hundred years ago. But in order to create real equality everyone must be given not only fair voting rights, but also equal opportunity to lead. Leaders are those that get to make the world-changing decisions and shouldn’t women and men should have equal opportunity to influence the world?  We make up half the population and are as qualified to make these decisions so shouldn’t we get to sit at the table of leaders well?

Ambition and The Stereotype Threat 

When I read an excerpt of the book “Lean In: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid” by Sheryl Sandberg it got me thinking about women and ambition. Sandberg attributes the lack of women leaders to the “leadership ambition gap”, and the surveys Sandberg waves in our faces show women as less ambitious. For example, one “survey of college students found that more men than women chose ‘reaching a managerial level’ as a career priority” (Sandberg 647). Basically, she claims that women’s lack of ambition restricts them from filling as many leadership positions. However, that does not ring true to me, it must be more complex.

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Yes, studies say women are less ambitious. And, yes, women put those answers down on paper, but I believe that women want more power than they admit. Power and leadership are what society discourages women from having so they pretend not to have those characteristics. Yet, the desire to succeed and lead is still in there somewhere, even if society is suppressing it. One way society discourages leadership in women is by seeing girls that take charge as bossy or domineering. This is especially awful because boys in this position are seen as confident, powerful, and strong. The bossy girls believe they are exerting a negative behavior, so they hide their desire and ability to lead.

The excerpt from Sandberg ‘s book introduced me to stereotype threat, a phenomenon that “Social scientists have observed that when members of a group are made aware of a negative stereotype they are more likely to perform according to that stereotype” (653). Basically, when people are reminded of the shortcomings that society expects from them, they act according to those expectations.

There is a clear connection been the lack of ambition women admit to and the stereotype threat. These women are only less ambitious because they are fulfilling the predetermined idea of what women should display as “the stereotype threat” phenomenon suggests. The stereotype that men are better leaders than women is what needs to change. Rather than believing the stereotype that women worse leaders, society must see women as equally capable at leading. That big change starts with changing little things such not referring to girls as domineering when they attempt to lead. We should call these girls strong, confident, and commanding as we would the boys.

The Balance of Family, Work, and Personal Life

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Many female leaders scale back the intensity of their work in order to spend time with children. But, society insists women can have a leadership position and a healthy family life. They believe that if she has to take time off she must not my parenting very efficiently. One blatant example of this unrealistic expectation is discussed by Anne-Marie Slaughter, in her article “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”. She states that “In Washington, ‘leaving to spend time with your family’ is a euphemism for being fired”. And in her experience the societal pressure to have a perfect family and rigorous work life is an unrealistic expectation. Women just can’t work harder in order to make time for a family and rigorous work life.

I have seen first-hand the stress of it all within my family. A point of contention between my parents has always been my mom’s demanding job.And, even though I’m proud to say that my mom leads a division of a hospital, I have seen my dad has pester her about the long hours, how little she sees her daughters, and how she doesn’t care for herself. As little as I like to admit it, he has a point. I have watched throughout my life as she sacrifices her personal health in order to be a leader and a mother.

I am not saying that women can’t have a leadership position and a family, my mom has certainly done that. I am saying they can’t have an intense work life, a fulfilling family life, and care for themselves as the same time. It is indeed possible to balance two of those aspects of a healthy life, but it requires a sacrifice in one area. But no one should have to give up their family or their own health for their work.

If we could increase leave, shorten work days and create more flexible hours then we would spend less time working. We could invest our time in family life, or personal health. This would benefit everyone (men and women) with the added bonus of giving women a better chance to pursue leadership positions. As Sandberg  wisely puts it “Seeking out a more balanced life is not a woman’s issue; balance would be better for all of us (654)”.

Embracing Every Step Towards Equality

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What I want to stress is that I am aware of other inequalities in the work place, something Slaughter addresses with finesse. As she writes of the difficulty of the family-work balance, she stresses that “[She is] well aware that the majority of American women face problems far greater than any discussed in [her] article. [She is] writing for [her] demographic- highly educated, well-off women who are privileged enough to have choices in the first place”. In essence, Slaughter gestures to the larger picture by recognizing that there are those who are treated much worse than wealthy, white women.

So whether the next step towards progress helps African-Americans, the LGBTQ community, Native Americans, women, the impoverished, children, or immigrants we must support it. If those inequalities can be mended, then women will eventually be treated more fairly in the workplace. All we can hope is that as society develops respect for our strong, powerful, and commanding women. With that respect will come an increase in the ambition of women and therefore, hopefully, an increase in the number of women leaders.

Works Cited

Sandberg, Sheryl. “Lean In: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid.” They Say, I Say.                Eds Gerald Graff, Cathy Berkenstein, Russel Durst. New York: W.W. Norton, 2015.              642-658.