There’s a show on the game show network called “America Says.” It’s where contestants guess the top answers Americans have given on particular topics.
Recently, this was the fill-in-the-blank topic: “My mom’s all-time favorite hobby is _____ “
The top answers from Americans were:
- Drinking wine
- Cooking
- Shopping
- Traveling
- Reading
- Gardening
And the top answer was sewing.
SEWING?
Cooking? Gardening? Shopping? Come on… what is this? 1955?
And “drinking wine” is a hobby? Who answered these questions?
I’ve written about women in the workplace, women in advertising and ways women have sacrificed their health for profit. I wrote about gender pay gap in 2014 and while the White House is taking steps to address the issue and the U.S. women’s soccer team fought for equal pay and finally won, not much else has changed.
Why are women still being marginalized? We patiently tolerate mansplaining and hepeats. Hepeat was a new phrase for me – it’s when a woman expresses an idea during a meeting, and then a man expresses the same idea and gets the credit.
McKinsey’s latest Women in the Workplace report (in collaboration with LeanIn.org) show that women are switching jobs at record speed, partly because of gender inequality and outdated systems and processes. Women report belittling microaggressions regularly and face more challenges when dealing with caregiving, both for children and aging adults.
The pandemic didn’t help. Working moms were forced to make adjustments when kids were attending virtual school and many had to quit their jobs, as childcare was not available.
On the bright side, the pandemic did fast track workplace perks like flexible work (in some industries). And younger women are fed up and demanding change. Hopefully the up-and-coming, smart and savvy GenZ women can fight for equality and eliminate toxic work environments to reveal a fair and equal playing field.
One Kansas Girl 