Every day it is possible to find new activities, organizations, groups, people dedicated to speaking/working/developing/promoting and so on to infinity, the “women's empowerment”The approaches, of course, are varied. However, most share a common foundation: women must empower themselves to achieve something that straddles the spiritual journey and microentrepreneurship.
Personally, I think it's best to start from the beginning. So, knowing what I'm saying, thinking, reflecting, discussing concepts, and even challenging them is an essential way of learning to achieve goals related to gender equality in all spheres: economic, but also political, family, social, and so on.
Let me give you a trivial yet surprising example: nude. We've known it since we were kids: it's that pale, brownish pink used to paint people's faces. Also used in the underwear we buy. So far, so good. But it turns out I read an article about a lingerie company and discovered that, oh surprise!, nude wasn't the color for everyone's skin. It helped them diversify their colors. It helped me rethink my paradigms.
On this path of rethinking, I ask then: what do we say when we say leadership, power, empowerment?
Let's take it one step at a time.
Leadership, a concept that first emerged in the late 19th century, was constructed based on the characteristics of men. They occupied public spaces. Faced with this conceptualization, we generally face two issues: if we are sensitive or sentimental, then we don't lead well. If we are assertive and directive, then we become "masculinized"...
The powerOh! What a topic! The first thing we think of is a traditional conception of “power over.” An asymmetrical relationship that is historically and culturally
conditioned.
However, we can also think about it in other ways:
- Power to: generative. Allows one to do.
- Power with: synergy. Thinking and working with others.
- Power from within. That which is born within us.
And this brings us directly to the next concept.
Empowerment. And here, a new revelation. While it is not a new word (it first appeared in the 17th-century Oxford Dictionary), its use in women's movements from the 1970s onwards had to do with the transformation of gender subordination. In other words, we are talking about a concept whose essence is politics (POLITICS, which is not the same as partisanship). Politics that allows for something called set the agenda, that is, that we talk about, address, and legislate on what concerns us, in this case, women. Examples? Violence, the wage gap, facilitating caregiving tasks that are still largely our responsibility (daycare centers, lactation centers, caring for sick adults, etc.).
Now let's think together: what happens if we depoliticize it? What happens if we reduce it to the possibility of having ventures that give us some, or a lot, economic windfall? The truth is, if we only focus on the individual and underestimate the structures and contexts in which we live, we arrive at the same conclusion as those who uphold the status quo: women don't lead, manage, or do anything simply because we don't want to. The glass ceiling doesn't exist, and it's all about continuing to prove ourselves.
My invitation then is to revisit the complete concept of empowerment so that we can act in three areas that feed off each other:
- The personal sphere for the development of our own capabilities
- The economic sphere since dependency is one of the biggest barriers we women encounter when making decisions.
- The political sphere to set the agenda, so that legislation is passed on issues that concern us.
And if not, consider Iceland. Since 1975, it has promoted affirmative action laws that have made it the most equitable country in the world today in every sense: equal pay, maternity/paternity leave, the creation of management spaces in the public and private sectors, etc.
To conclude, a current anecdote: New Zealand's Prime Minister is named Jacinda Ardern. She is 38 years old, pregnant, and her partner will be taking parental leave (she will only be off for six weeks).
The state, businesses, and organizations in general must develop a gender perspective. This requires political decision-making and measures aimed at achieving equality, adequate plans, internal and external work, breaking paradigms, and managing this change. Because, as Gloria Steinem said: "I have yet to hear a man ask how to combine marriage and career."
I hope to spark ideas and rethinking.
