Women empowerment, is that really needed? I saw frowning faces during several women empowerment events I joined. Btw, 90% of the people present there were women. Through conversations with these women, I found that they were skeptical yet curious about the necessity women empowerment. See my findings and illustrations below. I conclude with a “How to empower women as a woman” plan that I use myself and maybe you can use it too.
First impressions matter. This women organisation had seemed to have great first impressions. “Oh, this [event] looks very nice and fancy!”
But then I saw frowning faces and heard the skeptical comments at the end of one of the events. What was going on? Aren’t we, women, aware that we can benefit from women empowerment? I didn’t know it myself at this point.
During another event we did an exercise about leadership traits, which lead to accusations here and there and audible confusion in the room. It seems that the women didn’t embrace the differences in leadership traits between men and women. #opportunity?
Does the offering of the women organisation fit the needs of the women? Not everyone was motivated during workshops. Some women expressed that they thought that they weren’t benefitting at all.
Ok. Think about this one for a second. Now, let’s see what happened when the audience was 50/50 male, female.
Inviting men to a conversation is a great first step, next, is facilitating that conversation. Based on my experience, observations, and interviews, women and men need practical tips and experience on having such conversations, especially since it concerns topics that can get people emotional (angry, confused, upset, resentful etc.).
I tried something
A flyer with practical tips and stats for men who really want to advocate for women, men who want to join the women empowerment movement. It this really effective? Well it did spark conversation but that’s not enough for me.
How to empower women as a woman
I want to make impact, now! To make the world a better place I start with myself, what can I do?
As a teacher at a University of Applied Sciences, I actively create opportunities for female students to speak up, and when they do, I will praise them for it. No more talking over each other or waiting for louder (often male) students to finish talking. Praising knowledge and creating space.