Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Women, glass, ceiling and slippers

So we met, after a long time, women I went to undergrad with. Women who have achieved much, reached far, know a lot of things and people. Senior managers, hedge fund owners, wives of owners, investment bankers, academics, dancers, lawyers, PR and HR partners - we met. To chat, to park our lives at work aside, to eat a bit, drink a little and discuss how things are. At home, with the little ones, the leaving the nest ones and the ones who decided that giving birth was not for them. We talked about schools, nannies as always. And then about work. About coming home at midnight to a child asleep wrapped in a substantial duvet of maternal guilt. The clash between work and life and the nonsense that is the lean in approach.
And the well and truly glued, drilled and wedged in glass ceiling that exists.
The rules for dress and regulations for shoes that exist.
The lack of time and the misplaced family hierarchies.
The gender pay gap and the reality of it.
The male owned and run management boards, committees and groups.
And then I see a post by a colleague and a well respected ex-boss and friend about being senior academic and female in the UK.
Am I disappointed? Yes.
Am I worried? Of course
Am I angry? An angry feminist anyone? Yes.
It's 2017. We can vote, we can marry, we can inherit and adopt. We can drive and study. We can abort and use contraception. We can Be Whatvever We Want to Be.
But, not much has changed. There is a long, long, long way to go.