In a society or workplace that’s dominated by men, how should women behave to be taken seriously? Honestly, women shouldn’t even be adjusting, to begin with; hence the call for gender equality across all industries. But there’s this stigma around the word “feminism” that it’s viewed as something extreme when it shouldn’t be.
In today’s episode, Samantha Martin, attorney and founder of The Femish Organization, talks about the modern feminist. She shares interesting insights into gender equality, especially in a male-dominated space, and how we can all address this imbalance between masculine and feminine energies.
Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:
- What a feminist means
- Samantha’s experience in a male-dominated space
- Why women shouldn’t be adjusting themselves to meet the masculine energy default in a workplace
- How society views masculinity vs. femininity
Episode Highlights:
[02:00] What is a Feminist?
A feminist is just somebody who wants equal treatment and equal rights. Fair doesn’t mean everybody has the exact same thing. Fair means people get what they need in order to succeed in order to have a fair way in the game. Feminism helps everybody. It helps men and helps women. It helps every community, non-binary, and it’s good for everybody if people can just get past this connotation of being extreme.
[05:31] Working in a Male-Dominated Space
The legal industry is male-dominated when there are more women in law school. And yet somehow they get weeded out due to this internal struggle that exists. This is not only prevalent in the legal industry, it’s also in STEM where women all had the same experiences. Women do certain things at work to be taken seriously. But women shouldn’t even have to do that.
Everybody has a different balance of masculine and feminine traits. But to adjust yourself to meet the masculine energy default in your profession is like letting them win. You’re almost admitting that masculinity needs to be there in order for a business to grow and be taken seriously. But it’s a game we have to break down. When you are being yourself and you’re expressing yourself, you’re being a better version of yourself, and you do everything better in your life, including your job.
[11:31] How Society is Devaluing Femininity
Society devalues femininity and it expects women to be a certain level of feminine. You should wear makeup, but don’t wear too much makeup. Don’t be super covered up but don’t be showing a lot of skin. There are all these rules and many more rules around femininity, while masculinity tends to be the default. Masculinity is more accepted in our society compared to femininity. If you’re a feminine man, you’re assumed to be gay, even if you’re just being a nurturing parent. And so, there’s this imbalance prevalent in heterosexual relationships, too. If we can start valuing femininity again and not looking at it like something that’s anti-feminist or weak, or all the stereotypical stuff that the patriarchy has told us it is, then we’ll be in a better place and we can make a better world.
Resources Mentioned:
WOLFPACK by Amy Wamback
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