Washing Women

Photo by Kid Circus on Unsplash

I was having a bit of a crumby day on Tuesday.  So I did what I frequently do on those sorts of days. I scrolled. And scrolled.

Everywhere I looked there were posts about brilliant women, inspiring women, international women, brilliant, inspiring international women. But I didn’t feel inspired; I felt a bit flat. I used to love International Women’s Day. It was a day where there was a different tone to the voices around, different stories were being told and often in language rarely heard in the working world. It felt refreshing.  

This year I could still hear those voices, and particularly poignantly from the women of Ukraine, and refugee women across the world. But other voices were getting in the way.  The voices of big brands, business and media were loud, and the accompanying photos glossy. They too were shouting about brilliant, inspiring and international women.   But it didn’t feel refreshing; it felt dissonant.

I don’t doubt the value of increasing the visibility of female role models in the workplace, particularly when they are not white women.  But why do we only see those glossy photos of diverse faces when businesses are trying to showcase their credentials? Why, when we walk into their real-life board rooms and foyers, are those faces significantly less visible, less glossy, and more strained?  

Time and time again I hear clients talk about imposter syndrome. And I wonder, when I look at those glossy photos, which of those women feel that they’ve had to pretzel themselves to fit in, to change their voice, or to pretend to be someone they aren’t? What exactly is being showcased?

Then I saw a brilliant Twitter account that cheered me right up, even though its content was depressing. @PayGapApp was tweeting out organisations’ #IWD tweets, alongside the details of their gender paygap.  Gaps that went beyond beyond 30% in some cases. Unsurprisingly, given the average paygap is somewhere in the region of 15%.  And it perfectly summed up for me the dissonance I was feeling. It was fine to celebrate women, but not to pay them fairly. Alongside the inspiration, women were being washed, right, left and centre. Great soapy suds of the stuff. And that’s before you get to even wider gaps where race and disability are concerned.

Next year, I’d love to see again lots of photos of organisations’ inspirational, brilliant, international women. But only if they are accompanied by their gender pay gaps, the concrete action being taken to address that gap, and their policies around care and parental leave, returnee support and workplace harassment, among other things. Instead of waiting until March to amplify a chorus of women’s voices, how about companies do it every day, in their boardrooms, interview rooms, foyers and office? With no hashtag attached. Laundry free.

P.s. If you are a woman reading this and you don’t feel brilliant, inspirational or international – maybe you feel small and struggling - I see you. You are also worth of celebration.

P.P.s. Apparently no stock image woman finds doing laundry a bind. They are all smiling with delight at the joy of spending time with their washing machine, usually dressed in white and often accompanied by an equally happy (female) child.