When I began writing a blog about feminism, I struggled to put words to my thoughts on the subject. But that’s absurd! Why? I am a female and identity as a female. I believe in feminism. I am a feminist. So why would it be difficult for me to write about it?!
It’s because growing up, the word ‘feminist’ was said in hushed, reverent tones. It was a word for extreme female groups, not the everyday person. It was spoken almost like a dirty word.
As a Texas native born at the tail end of the Millennial Generation, feminism might have been hard to talk about, but it was definitely alive and well in my life and the lives of the women who influenced me most.
My mom always worked when I was growing up. She was the OG [original gangsta] remote worker. As a Marketing Manager and then Director, she traveled most weeks around the country and throughout the world for the small software company where she worked, and still made a point to make a delicious dinner and go to my sports games when she could.
My mother-in-law is similar. As a badass West Point grad, she forged her own trajectory and has traversed multiple careers in the process. From a Military intelligence officer to a creative at Hallmark to a photographer, and now a PhD Sex and Intimacy therapist, she’s the epitome of a force to be reckoned with.
I look around me and see an office filled with successful females at a female-owned company. Truthfully, we work in a male-dominated industry with engineers, local government leadership, and urban planners. On the occasion that I encounter women in these roles, they’re often quiet and keep opinions to themselves.
In 2019, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that women remained underrepresented in management positions in the workplace and continued to earn less than male managers. Those disparities are far greater for women of color and of different ethnicities.
But with the second wave of feminism being ushered in, I think things are changing for the better. I see a shift and the tide turning. More and more the millennial generation and younger— Gen Z and Gen Alpha — want leaders that support and show compassion in the workplace. Forbes wrote, “Words like empathy, intuition, compromise, and compassion may have been viewed as soft in previous decades but now are viewed as increasingly necessary in the workplace— perhaps even a strategic imperative.” With burnout and quiet quitting at the forefront of workplace discussions, who wouldn’t want more empathy and a holistic approach to leadership?
So, when I think of the Future being Female, I’m reminded of the empowering female role models that have forged their own paths. My mom taught me that work empowers us. It gives us options and opportunities. And Heather, my mother-in-law, demonstrated that it’s never too late to find passion and be successful with different paths.
I have hope in the future workplace adapting more [traditionally] feminine characteristics. A space where little girls can be empowered to take on career paths without stereotypes and roadblocks. Whatever the future brings, it’s no longer taboo and I’m free to shout from the rooftops — THE FUTURE IS FEMALE!