Women are often asked to demonstrate competence while simultaneously reassuring everyone that their competence has not made them less pleasa
Women are often asked to demonstrate competence while simultaneously reassuring everyone that their competence has not made them less pleasant.
Just a reminder…….
Men see the image below as a “gotcha” but one must first remember and reflect upon this first ^^^^^
………..Then it might start making sense.
Political scientist Nichole Bauer used multiple experiments and found that voters held female candidates to more stringent qualification standards than male candidates, and those higher standards reduced women’s ability to gain electoral support. The study also notes an interesting real-world pattern: women who reach candidacy tend to have higher levels of qualifications than male candidates, consistent with women having to clear a higher bar.
Women can be asked to pass two examinations at once. The issue isn’t simply that women are “questioned.” We have evidence that women can be subjected to additional standards even when seeking positions of power.
Can you do the job? And:
Are you warm enough while doing it?
Are you likable?
Are you too ambitious?
What about your children?
What about your marriage?
What are you wearing?
Are you angry?
Are you too emotional?
Are you not emotional enough?
Are you relatable?
Are you compassionate?
Did you say that too harshly?
A man can certainly be criticized for some of these things. The research doesn’t support saying men never face them. What it supports is that sex changes the standards and content of evaluation in identifiable ways.
Women are not asking to be beyond scrutiny. Women are asking why the scrutiny so often multiplies when we enter the room. Examine our records. Challenge our ideas. Question our decisions. Hold us accountable for the power we seek and the power we hold. Then stop moving the finish line. A woman should not have to prove that she is qualified and pleasant, capable and comforting, ambitious and apologetic, powerful and harmless.
She should not have to make everyone comfortable with her authority before she is permitted to exercise it. If the standard is leadership, measure leadership. If the standard is competence, measure competence. And if a woman has met the standard, have the integrity to say so without inventing one more test for her to pass.