Dave-ologies: Reshaping the Narrative Starts with You

50/50 Day. Equality. Fairness.

These words are not taken lightly. “We have been telling the story of scarcity {of women leaders} for so long and maybe it’s time we told a new story of abundance.” This is a quote from a film I recently watched regarding women leaders today and throughout history. This narrative reshapes the way we think of women and shows the real story is of a history rich with women leaders and conquerors. Unfortunately, through the ages this story has changed. Not only did women become ‘less’ in our societies, but the stories of the past were changed or disappeared altogether.

So, I did more reading on this issue, and in an article I read from Gloria Feldt, “Just as Galileo had a tough time convincing folks the world wasn’t flat and Earth wasn’t at the center of the universe, studies by a small army of scholars have yet to dislodge a worldview about the lesser value of women’s work. Culture runs deep, and it’s hard to change while you’re living in it. People in power don’t relinquish it willingly. The diminution of women happens all the time — from a woman being offered “a mommy track” she never asked for, an unnamed leader refusing to shake a woman leader’s hand or outright sexual harassment. Let’s not fool ourselves — all of those moves are power plays meant to keep women off-balance, undermined and “in their place,” psychically and metaphorically.”

Time to create another way. Let’s start by refuting once and for all old myths about why women do or do not work. There are so many articles and books exploring why parity has been so elusive, from Anne-Marie Slaughter’s piece in The Atlantic, “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All” to Jocelyn Frye’s just released “Defining Power and Why It Matters: Securing Women’s Equality and Women’s Futures.” They reveal compelling, maddening sides of this issue. Frye observes, “Unfortunately, one key problem that needs fixing is an old story encompassing obstacles that limit women’s autonomy and ability to control their futures. These obstacles are embedded in our laws, institutions and even our culture — obstacles visible and invisible but no less pernicious or impactful.”

Think about in your own life and family history. Are there women in your life and ancestry who did remarkable things and accomplished much? I am betting that for most of us there are. For me, a few stand out - my aunt, Elyse (Knox) Harmon was a Hollywood leading lady in the 1940's; my grandmother, Libby, an English scholar; and my mother, Joan, was a driving force at the Business Department at Skidmore College (and a driving force in our home growing up – paid the bills, disciplined, coached, cooked, cleaned, nurtured, listened, pushed…the list goes on AND I miss her everyday). I am proud to have had some great role models.

I also have some great role models where I work. At Gannett, our Chief Financial Officer, Chief Legal Counsel, Chief Transformation Officer, Chief Content Officer and one of our Chief Executive Officers are all great leaders. And they rock. Oh, and yes they are female. We want to lead the way.

This does not change the fact that throughout our lifetime women have been marginalized and gender equality has not been an important issue until the last decade or so. We still have a long way to go to achieve this goal.

The following video (below) is part of an initiative to change the narrative. The purpose of 50/50 Day is to remind those who may have forgotten their history. May it remind us all that “women are more than capable and have paid their dues multiple times over” (Feldt). I encourage all of you to watch the video and get involved. Let’s start by changing the narrative in our own lives and our own families. Let’s raise our daughters and our sons with the full story, where they are equally able to be anything they want to be. They can lead, they can build, they can play, they can create. They can change the world. Together. We. Win. (and for all the great Mom’s - Happy Mother’s Day).

Here is how to get involved:

http://www.letitripple.org/films/50-50/

Dave Harmon

People Division

“Kindness is Currency”

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidharmonhr