A Review of the 'Empowering Women - Challenges & Rewards
of Being a Woman In Business Today' Forum
Written by Devika Brendon
Published in Ceylon Today
Written by Devika Brendon
Published in Ceylon Today
International Women's Day has been comprehensively
celebrated this year, in many diverse ways. One of the most interesting
occasions was the 'Empowering Women' event organised by the Chamber of Commerce
on the evening of March 10th, at the JAIC Hilton in Colombo.
The Keynote Speaker was Rosy Senanayake, who drew our
attention to the facts of the position of women in real terms in this country.
Sri Lanka is often praised for having the first female Prime Minister in the
world, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, yet today women are markedly
under-represented in leadership positions in politics and in business - both in
the public and private sectors.
Much has been said about the economic and industrial
development of the country and its standing in relation to the rest of the
world in the areas of health and literacy. Yet Rs. 285 billion is allocated to
the Defence Ministry in a time of official political peace, while Education is
granted only Rs. 41 billion. What a telling disparity this shows in the
relative importance given to these two areas by the country's political
leaders.
We live in a borderless global community, and our biggest
resource, our most valuable 'commodity' is being socially undervalued. We need
to invest in our human capital, recognising that women's effort, skills and
labour directly gains Sri Lanka its biggest source of revenue: 70% of the national
income derives from the textile, apparel and garment industry, from the tea
industry, and from the wages of emigrant female workers who work overseas.
In 2005, the Domestic Violence Bill was passed in Sri Lanka,
yet many of our Motherland's women still have only basic legal knowledge and
are ignorant of their rights. Behaviour that is regarded by the international
community as unacceptable and disrespectful to the status and dignity of women
has yet to be criminalised in this country.
Education, nurturing and the transmission of moral values to
the younger generation, all areas in which women of all social classes play a
crucial role, are yet to be seen by policy-makers as vital for the development
of the younger generation. In particular, the early childhood years between the
ages of 1-5 need to be seen and treated as vital for the emergence and
formation of children's personalities and confidence, and ultimately for the
future contribution they will make to the country and the world.
The rallying slogan
for this year's International Women's Day is: 'Make It Happen!'
This happening was a pleasingly simple and accessible event:
the Rs. 1000 admission fee covered refreshments, two hours of excellent and
insightful discussion, and a brown paper carry bag full of helpful products
including a brochure advertising life insurance tailor-made for the woman with
multiple facets to her life, a sample of a sugar substitute product, and a
packet of no-nonsense prophylactics. This was entirely appropriate, as the
majority of attendees were young professional women in their twenties and
thirties.
The panel was well-chosen, comprising five women CEOs and
MDs, all occupying leading positions in their professions and corporations. As
one of the panellists expressed it, of herself: 'I was raised to be something
big - to step into big shoes'. Each of these speakers had a positive vision of
who and what she is, and the contribution she is making in her field.
There was more good sense, more honest statements and
helpful advice made in the two hours this event lasted, and more on-point
mentoring observations expressed in the Q & A discussion that followed the
panel's comments, than this writer has heard in far too many male-dominated
patriarchal institutions of the kind which abound in Sri Lanka.
There were no traditional drummers, no belly dancers, no
young ladies dressed in cutaway evening dresses singing romantic arias, none of
the performances deemed 'appropriate entertainment' by men in authoritative
positions who openly describe their 'hobbies' as 'Girls' - and thankfully no
projected overhead pictures of the current Miss World in a swimsuit.
We were addressed by mature, articulate, grown women:
present on the panel because they are successful, and effective because they
were fully engaged with their audience. They were operating as role models and
mentors in the best sense: consciously, with awareness and without
condescension. There was a minimum of references made to Rosy Senanayake as a
former beauty queen; and she herself only briefly referred to her working
familiarity with the leading members of government of the day, and in a
refreshingly non self-aggrandising way.
There was no man-hating in this forum, no 'ugly feminists'.
Several of the speakers spoke of the male bosses and colleagues who had
supported, encouraged and promoted them in their career paths, and all those
speakers who spoke of husbands and partners spoke of them with approval and as
equals. There was no 'better half' badinage, no references to the boredom of
motherhood or the servitude of child-rearing. There was above all no portrayal
of professional work as a whim or an 'escape' from domestic boredom, or as
mindless drudgery in itself. Rather, the professional world was seen as a
positive arena, an opportunity to discover oneself and one's skills and gifts
in relation to work that progresses the whole society. It was seen as an
empowering priority.
The ability to make choices to better one's own life was
repeatedly mentioned. The necessity to overcome negative self-talk and the
eroding inner critic was aired. There was open discussion of the self-sabotage
which women particularly in the business arena have to overcome on a daily
basis in themselves, while at the same time meeting their deadlines and
developing and furthering their professional projects.
A different model of successful and empowering conduct was
suggested: the idea of equality, dignity, self-respect and progress which is
expressed in the model of a network, as opposed to the 'climbing the ladder'
model that has prevailed in male dominated adversarial hierarchies throughout
the world.
Women can bring a wealth of wisdom to the practices of
governance, management and leadership, fusing emotional and intellectual
intelligence with moral awareness. The panellists emphasised the necessity of
self-awareness and self-worth in one's conduct in the corporate, economic,
political and commercial world. The panellists embodied these qualities very
clearly.
There was discussion of the double standards often centred
on body image, body size and personal appearance to which women are still
differentially subjected in the course of a working day - what American
psychologists call 'micro-indignities' - which cumulatively amount to a person
of merit feeling excluded or diminished in their professional life.
The panellists countered this by asserting that it is the
quality of our work that makes us noteworthy: the objective value of our unique
contributions, what we bring to the table, the way we present our work. To be
able to choose a profession in which we can exercise our talents and develop
our skills is surely a blessing our mothers and grandmothers have not
necessarily enjoyed or even recognised as a right.
It is after all a right which is closely tied to our
self-expression and our sense of what we can bring to every situation in our
working life: in some ways, as satisfying and challenging a choice as the
choice of a life partner - and often far more truly liberating.
They described how they themselves change mindsets from
'professional' mode to 'nurturing' mode as they leave their office environment
to return to their families each day. It was apparent that this transition had
to be navigated consciously by each individual woman, and with mindful
awareness of the demands of each role. In some ways, the professional arena,
with all its challenges, appears to have more accessible support structures and
rewards than the domestic arena routinely offers.
The evening left attendees feeling empowered, encouraged and
inspired: that we did not have to demean ourselves to conform to standards of
conduct that are inherently erosive of our identity & self-respect. We do
not need to be dolly birds perched on our bosses' knees to get promoted or sink
to the level of the corporate casting couch to be invited to our seat at 'the
table'. We do not have to totter precariously on high heels or shoe-horn
ourselves into figure-hugging clothes to display our physical 'assets' and
pander to a patriarchal gaze, appearing half-dressed in a room of immaculately
clothed adults.
We are not there to be looked at, to be 'eye candy' or 'arm
candy' or to entertain the serious participants. We are equal participants. We
do not have to take shears to our hair, wear bulky shoulder pads or dress like
warriors to fit in to the gladiatorial displays of a combative world. We can
interpret the codes of conduct of our companies and professions in ways that
express our own sense of self.
We could start with who we actually are, and see if there
are entry points accessible to us which can connect us to the worlds of our aspirational
imagination. These worlds, where women are respected for the work they do and
the multiple facets of their lives, are portrayed in sadly clichéd and
diminished forms in corporate tele-dramas.
We can see from this panel of speakers that there is work
being done, and progress being made, in the real world, and that these very
arenas of cut and thrust may very well be opportunities for the warriors within
us to see what we can bring to the field.
There are many mixed messages being given to our daughters
and younger sisters and students these days. What does a 'powerful woman' look
like in 2015? Is she 'cool'? Is she 'hot'? How does she conduct her
professional and personal life? Does she date her boss? Does she have sexual
trysts with him in his executive bathroom or indulge his wish for sexual
congress on the top of his presidential desk? Is she a 'Good Wife'? or does she
cause 'Scandal'? Do she and her friends call each other 'girls' even when they
are well into their sixties?
Do we infantilise our young women? Wanting to keep them
'fresh and innocent', untroubled by the realities of this inequitable world? Do
we really encourage them to go as far as they can in their education? Do we
tell them that 'Smart is Sexy'? Do we address the issues that they actually
face in their daily lives: cyber-bullying, peer envy and shaming on social
media, the 'Eve-teasing' that is part of the lot of every student who has to
catch a public bus to attend lectures at a college or local university? Do we
run courses to educate young men or even older men in how NOT to disempower
women? How not to behave like mountain gorillas camouflaged by the thin veneer
of respectability conferred by the wearing of a suit and tie?
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