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I empathize with your story, and I believe your story is a common one in the corporate arena. I experienced similar experiences not as a female but as a "person of color". There are other groups who feel as you do. They may be in a different industry but the sting is the same. The question I would like to pose is, why are white males singled out for not being part of the "Lean In session" discussion? What about males in general?
Thank you for your post!
OGD
Replies to "I empathize with your story, and I believe your story is a common one in the..."
Hello Owen, I am in agreement that the authors story is "a common one in....arena". Fortunately, I have still yet to experience such as a "person of color" however I do realize that I am not exempt I think that our society still has struggles and issues with colored people which will forever impact how we are treated and how far we may go. What, if any, were you able to do with your experience?
Hi Deborah,<br />
<br />
thank you for your response and for your question. It has been a<br />
tumultuous journey for me. What I have always done is give 100% effort and<br />
always conduct myself with the highest of integrity. I have fell along the<br />
way in how I handled certain situations. However, at the end of the day, I<br />
like to think that I made a difference for those who are coming behind me.<br />
<br />
I challenged a lot of the status quo as a minority in a corporate<br />
environment. In retrospect, I have no regrets about some of the actions<br />
that I took. Going through some of the negative experiences built my<br />
character in ways that I would not have imagined. The experiences we go<br />
through is what makes us who we are.<br />
<br />
Thank you again for the post! I hope I provided a twinkle of insight.<br />
<br />
Owen<br />
I singled out white males because although there weren't many, I did see men of other racial and ethnic backgrounds there. Yes, ALL men should be present, but considering white males are in at least two groups of "privilege," sadly, they have the most power to change the situation.
"Gender: Male-identified, masculine individuals still hold a level of privilege over people of other genders. Another word for the systemic operation of male privilege is “patriarchy”. In the media, we still see male authority superseding others. Men continue to be overrepresented in leadership roles and as news commentators. Men, their stories, and their perspectives continue to be vastly overrepresented in video games, film, and television programs, both onscreen and behind the scenes.
Racial: In the West, racial privilege is usually equated with white privilege since power, money, and influence tends to be concentrated among Caucasians in Western Europe and North America. Racial privilege is institutionalized racism: a system that is structured to privilege one group over others. In the media, consider how race plays into determining character types and roles." (Forms of Privilege, Media Smarts; http://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/privilege-media/forms-privilege)