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Rosie is a lie: 6 Ways to better empower yourself and other women in 2021
I wish the person who proclaimed “Rosie the Riveter,” a symbol for female empowerment, had put a little more effort into research. Rosie came to symbolize women gaining equity in the workplace and, sort of, becoming one of the boys. And that idea may have been a real push toward female empowerment if it had actually been true. If anything, Rosie, whose role it was to hold down the fort until a man could come back and take her spot, was subservient to her male peers. That’s not empowerment; that’s settling.
We don’t settle in 2021, so let’s let Rosie spend more time with her family while we get on with the kicking of asses and taking of names. These six tips will help you be more empowered while also contributing to the betterment of all women.
Self-advocacy
I think that the biggest reason most women don’t self-advocate stems from not knowing how to define it. I often work with clients who find it hard to self-advocate, so I take them to class. Self-advocacy is an ability that must become a habit if it is to be effective. The ability to communicate and negotiate effectively, your worth, beliefs, competencies, and interests while maintaining your convictions' courage is self-advocacy. Practice here make perfect. Write down your values, your strengths, your competencies, and your desires. Don’t skip this step. Once written, repeat them to yourself often. Next, repeat them to everyone else. When you do this, you not only assert, you also become an example to other women to do the same.
Network
Networking doesn’t always come easy, especially if you’re an introvert like me. Networking requires you to engage with others. That being said, networking needs to be viewed as a necessary strategy. If you need to tell yourself, “it’s part of my personal job description,” do it. Strategically, it would help if you networked from the center up. That is to say, network with important stakeholders and other influential women at your current status or above. Just don’t forget to reach back for others once you’ve gained some ground. I trick I used…
