Break the Bias - International Women's Day 2022
Have a read of these bullet points and check in with yourself to see what your initial response is.
My nine-year-old daughter prefers:
Blue over pink.
Joggers over skirts.
Trainers over shoes.
Gaming on her Xbox over playing with dolls.
Swimming and football over gymnastics or dancing.
A Minecraft onesie “for boys” over PJs with a unicorn on the tee-shirt.
She can also complete a “boys speed cube” aka a Rubix cube in less than two minutes.
I'm guessing you're thinking: oh, she's a "Tomboy" - a girl who exhibits characteristics and behaviours considered typical of a boy. If that little girl wasn't my daughter, that would be my reaction too because this thinking has been imprinted on my brain from when I first started watching Disney princess movies in the 80s!
And that's exactly what society leads us to believe. 👸👸👸
Yet these little pre-programmed responses that e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e has (I'm not immune to this either - I'm learning all the time too and trying hard to call out my own bs!), are leading to varying degrees of bias - the theme of this year's International Women's Day.
Gender bias: unfair difference in the way women and men are treated
Here are some examples of how gender bias has imprinted on our brains from the moment we were little and through to the present day. And what you can do to challenge your thinking the next time you see /hear /experience bias in action.
It's not about being perfect. It's not even about speaking up if you feel uncomfortable doing so. But it does all start with challenging the thinking that's been programmed by society.
Boys are boisterous, enjoy rough and tumble, and play with action toys. Girls are gentle, caring and play with dolls. In fact, when my daughter was a toddler and playing in a baby group, I specifically remember one mum literally running across the room to stop her boy from playing with a doll and pram. I found that so odd. Do men never push prams? Let Toys Be Toys is asking the toy and publishing industries to stop limiting children’s interests by promoting some toys and books as only suitable for girls, and others only for boys.
Blue is for boys. Pink is for girls. “Pink to make the boys wink”. Gross. Jenga in pink and blue. A world globe in pink and blue. Kinder Eggs in pink and blue.
Boys' clothes (dinosaurs, planets, trousers, shorts) versus girls' clothes (unicorns, fairies, dresses, skirts).
Boys shouldn’t express their emotions or cry, but girls are supported when they do… up to a point (see 19).
Books representing doctors as men and nurses as women and other stereotypical gender roles.
Girls’ magazines are for social butterflies and hairbands and fashion and makeup. Boys’ magazines are for the little adventurer and about space and dinosaurs.
Girls do not have access to the same education system as boys across the world.
Older Disney movies with passive princesses controlled by others (she must obey and be a good girl).
And again - women can’t save themselves - they have to be “saved” by a prince.
That women are homemakers and caregivers. They are not ambitious or adventurous or sporty. Those are qualities for boys.
Beautiful women = skinny, kind, quiet, meek.
Women’s unpaid workload includes invisible work such as housework that goes unnoticed and is often unacknowledged.
"Is it unpaid because we don’t see it? Or invisible because we don’t value it?" - Caroline Criado Perez
Feminism is niche and idealist rather than the norm.
Performance reward bias where employees are rewarded differently depending on gender.
Using ‘Caucasian Man’ in studies (25-30 years old, weighing 70kg) as the representation for all humans leads to 47% more women being seriously injured in a car crash.
Women are 25-46% more likely to be hired with blind applications or auditions.
Bic For Her Ball Pen - I’ll stop there, but go check out the comments on Amazon here.
Women were initially barred from the US space programme due to “temperamental psycho-psychologic” tendencies.
How PMS makes women emotionally unstable. Spoiler alert: there’s actually evidence that there’s a cognitive boost at certain points during a menstrual cycle.
The gender pay gap and men being paid more than women for doing the same role.
Unequal opportunities for career progression.
Outdated dress code views in the workplace require women to dress in skirts and heels.
Standard office temperatures are based on a formula from the 1960s based on the metabolic resting rate of the average 40 year old 70kg man. No wonder I was always so darn cold when I worked in an office!
Legislation says it can’t be asked, but the dreaded “do you have children?” question was often aimed at women - because who else would look after the children?
The frequency of the phrase “working mums” as opposed to “working parents”.
Coffee runs being asked of female associates and execs, rather than the males.
"Women are socialised to 'take turns in conversation, to downplay their own status, and to demonstrate behaviours that communicate more accessibility and friendliness, the traditional medical interview model may be unsuccessful in getting the information from women that is needed to diagnose them effectively" - Caroline Criado Perez
Voice recognition in cars responds better to men than women. In one instance, the car was only responding to a husband’s voice - who, interestingly, was in the passenger seat and the wife was driving. That would make any person scream!
How just 23% of CEOs are women.
And that only 0.2% of CEOs at Fortune 500 companies are women of colour.
Here's my personal favourite: 90% of women are affected by PMS with evidence showing that menstrual cramps are as painful as heart attacks. Erectile dysfunction affects 5-15% of men. Can you guess which has the most research and treatment?
Lastly - we need to challenge responses like this: “[i]t was a lot simpler when you guys [lawyers] wore dark suits, white shirts and navy ties…. And [w]e didn’t let girls do it in the old days.” - Judge Hughes, a male federal judge in Houston.
The future
Gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping are still prevalent in today's society, despite the progress that has been made towards equality for women. This is not only unfair to women, but it also holds back progress for everyone. It's time to call out these outdated attitudes and behaviours and forge a path towards true equality for all.
To achieve gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow, we need to all question what we see, what we think, what we say, and what we're told, and look with fresh eyes.
Are you in? Will you actively recognise, question and call out thinking around gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping each time you see it? I sincerely hope it's something you'll reflect on.
Thank you for reading.
International Women's Day 2022