International Women's Day

I've noticed my inner feminist is starting to stir.  Amongst certain company that suggestion will provoke negative connotations and definitely raise an eyebrow or two regarding the fact that I am 37 and still a single lady (?!!??!!??), but I am not talking about being a man-hater, I am talking about being a female-promoter.  Since moving to Europe certain situations have caught my attention, causing me to be aware of my womanhood ... instances where the fact that I was a woman was brought to the forward of my consciousness (and I'm not talking about those welcomed encounters).

For example, while boarding an airplane at London's City Airport for Milan, the jet bridge is jammed with men in their 30-50s, wearing sharp black suits, fashionable ties, poking away at their smartphones.  Aside from a fashionista or two, it seemed as if I was the only woman flying to Milan to conduct business (at least one senior enough to justify the expense of the city airport).  Needless to say, I was the only woman sitting at the table of that Board meeting. Hm.

Or, while walking through the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week, the crowd was at least 4:1 male, and much to my disgust the majority of females at the show were scantly clad, their only purpose being to tout the latest shiny device to previously mentioned male-dominated crowd. My skin crawled.

I've also felt the same in the UK, where Board rooms are majority male and it is quite acceptable to tell a woman leader she "sounds like a naggy wife" when she raises concerns about business decisions.  Stories from friends revealing male leaders in their offices touching and embarrassing young ladies enrage me.

I just don't recall many situations like this in the US.  Upon reflecting my own personal history, I never really considered the fact that I was a female when it came to my own education and career path.  Perhaps the U.S. is more progressive than Europe in this sense (go us!), but I also realize now that I am fortunate to have role models in my life that helped me navigate around the oppression many women face along the way.

For starters, I remember quite vividly watching my Mom get ready to go to work when I was young.  I would lay in her bed, and she would put on her power suit, pumps, and jewellery to go hit the streets to tackle business in her sporty little car.  I always thought how smart, fearless, and beautiful she was, and I know this subtle ritual was very impressionable on me.  I wanted to be just like her.

She taught me to get good grades, have expectations for myself and others, and beyond all, to be self-reliant with a good job.  If I did those things, everything else would work out.  I never remember, ever, a conversation about how I was a girl and expected to do less, or that boys could do some things and girls should do others.  Bull-mallarky.  If anything, I was shown that as a girl you should simply work harder.

And I have to give credit to the company I work for.  From the very first position I held, I was encouraged to grow, learn and take on more.  My first boss was a woman, our CEO at the time was a woman, my second boss was a woman, I was hired by a woman to move to Europe, my mentors are mostly women, and as I look at the executive leadership team today easily half are women, if not more.  Never has sexuality been a topic at work, aside from the encouragement to continue to be present and to celebrate our diversity. Today, our company issued a series of twenty short videos of our leadership around the world expressing their support of International Woman's Day.  I am quite proud to be part of this.

So, on this International Woman's Day, I hope everyone takes the time to acknowledge that our private bits are not an acceptable source of discrimination, to call out those cases in which you see that discrimination taking place, to encourage young woman in your lives that anything is possible, and to thank those who've encouraged you along the way.  You should never feel uncomfortable or less than anyone else because you are female and societies that do not encourage their women are not realizing their full potential.  And, I have to say, I'm quite looking forward to getting a copy of Cheryl Sandburg's book Lean In, coming out Monday (Facebook's COO and female activist).

Thanks Mom, and to all of you strong ladies in my life, "You've come a long way baby"!