Women! Please stand up for yourselves and know your value! I’m tired of people taking advantage of women- and women not defending themselves. Before I get hate mail let me clarify, this is not to say that ALL women can’t stand up for themselves-because in fact we can do it very well- but often women don’t speak up.
I suppose I should explain why I am having this sudden outbreak of “AAHH-syndrome” as I call it.
Women in Leadership Luncheon
It all started last week when I attended a very informative and inspiring luncheon on the topic of ‘Women in Leadership’ at Ryerson University. There were five very accomplished and respected speakers:
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Dr. Wendy Crukier – Associate Dean, Academic, Ted Rogers School of Management
Emanuela Heyninck – Commissioner from the Pay Equity Commission
Pamela Jeffery -Founder of the Women’s Executive Network, CEO and President of The Jeffrey Group LTD
Heather McGregor – CEO, YWCA Toronto
Paulette Senior – CEO, YWCA Canada
The speakers discussed issues of: confidence in the work place, persistence, respect, salary inequality, and the almighty ‘glass ceiling’. These women have all accomplished a great deal in their lives, not by sitting back quietly, but by having the confidence in themselves to accomplish what is rightfully theirs. It was mentioned that women make up to $0.73 cents of every dollar their male counterparts receive by the time they are 55. This statistic was very bothersome to me, how is it just for a company to decide that two people who do the same job and presumably with the same results have such a large gap in income? Especially, since the basis of the salary gap is due to gender.
I really enjoyed the luncheon as it was very motivating to hear those women give advice and address issues to a younger generation. Let’s all promise never to “uptalk” again. That is definitely a set back.
Time and time again I have been witness to women/females/ladies/girls (whatever you prefer, although I find the term “girl” patronizing) being overlooked, or in some cases letting themselves be overlooked. Ok, I see how that sentence can be confusing and possibly too vague to make sense. Here’s what I really mean: women need to speak their mind and stop worrying about how they will be perceived or whether people will ‘like’ them. I am not at all advocating for women to go around insulting others in an effort to command respect. I do however, think that when you have an idea or a thought or a counterargument it should be shared! A man can make a comment/disagree with someone and people will agree with him because he speaks with confidence. But a women who is known to speak her mind with confidence and openly agree/disagree with people is labeled by the “B-word”. Ladies, call it what they may, but I see no problem with being “am-bitch-ous”.
The Scaminar
In keeping with my theme of female empowerment I decided to attended a seminar scam about ‘Women in Wealth’. This seminar was a sham and a complete waste of my time and intelligence. My apologies to anyone who actually found the seminar useful.
The seminar began by cheering for some unknown “billionaire mentor”- that right there was my first warning sign to get out! If you are a mentor to billionaires and have a “worldwide selling book” shouldn’t you at least have more than 31 people following you on twitter? Just a thought.
The sales scheme went as follows:
- Get a woman who acts confident and is a minority to be the ‘influencer’
- Gain audience trust by creating stories of struggle and targeting issues with female-male relationships
- Make female attendees feel vulnerable by telling them they know nothing about finance, that women “learn differently from men”, and that society has created educational systems for men thrive in.
- Make it seem like you are sending a message of female empowerment when you are really crippling female power
- Announce that soliciting ones business and passing around business cards is not appropriate at this meeting because the “hotel doesn’t like it” <– ARE YOU SERIOUS!? If this is a talk for women to be empowered and have financial freedom why are you stopping them from networking and promoting their businesses?
- Start pushing useless books that will promise financial freedom (At that point I had enough and was not going to sit by and be polite anymore- I left!)
- Buy now for $500 or pay $1000 if you buy later <– again, ARE YOU SERIOUS!?
Ok at this point, I understand that I may be too skeptical and borderline ‘mean’ about my comments. But here’s the reality, if you want to help women and truly believe in empowering and assisting women don’t stop them from growing their businesses (i.e. giving out business cards). Encourage women to educate themselves without spending money. After all isn’t that what libraries are for? Don’t spend money on books that teach you about finance and saving money, borrow the books. That is lesson number one!
“Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
