If "men are judged on their potential and women on their accomplishments, and an experiment showed that women were judged on what they’d already done, while men were judged on what people thought they could do in the future," how can we change the mindset of people? What types of policies or language can we create to change these types of work beliefs?
Opinion-There Could Never Be a Female Andrew Yang - The New York Times
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Just as many of the other comments I agree with he article and it is sad that in 2021 we are still having some of the same issues as generations before us. The reality of women in politics facing this kind of discrimination is beyond sexist. Women are always told to that they have to be twice as good as the man to get half of what they do and it's true. With women in power positions there is more scrutiny for their every move and even criticized for what they wear compared to men. In order for a change to take place people in charge of hiring should higher strictly based on skill, requirements and experience needed for that specific job.
When viewing achievements of the female candidates for mayor Maya Wiley or Kathryn Garcia Young it is clear that they are more than qualified to be mayor. While they may look good on paper, “women are rarely seen as visionaries”. This attribute is something that society has associated more closely to men which is why Andrew Yang, a male candidate with less achievement has the popular vote from democratic voters. Moreover, women are often stereotypically seen as unable to effectively be in positions of leadership until their achievements are presented. Even then it is difficult as their achievements are overshadowed by a man's potential. Because of this their leadership potential is less likely to be recognized than a mans.
I agree with all the posts on this forum and to add on, I feel like this article isn't so surprising. Women have always needed to work harder in order to prove themselves, whether it be in politics or in the workplace. Women are just as capable as men when it comes to providing ideas in the workplace but a lot of the time they're either faced with more scrutiny or they're being talked over. In order to change this mindset, the stereotype that women can't do the same jobs as men, needs to go. Men and women need to be seen as equals when coming into a job interview.
Until reading this article I never thought about the gap between women and men in this way. After reading the article I feel as if certain thoughts I already had just kind of clicked together. I agree that women are judged on what they know how to do while men are judged on what they can potentially do. I feel that women are expected to work harder to prove themselves, and or are encouraged to prove themselves when they enter a place by mentioning what they've doe or can do, I feel like this article supports this idea.
Women are always held to a higher and undoubtably tougher standard than men are. Whether it is in a workplace, school, politics, etc. women always have a harder time proving their worth. We can begin by changing this mindset by giving women an equal opportunity at job interviews, equal pay and more attention than just their accomplishments. Sometimes, just our efforts are worth mentioning, just as they do for men. We can also change the idea that women are the ones who go on maternity leave - as that is a big reason why companies do not want to hire as many women. If both women and men or even more men take this leave then the stereotype that companies would have to 'waste money' on women would diminish. There are many more policies just like this and any change in the right direction would help. Women are strong, resilient, and just as capable as men are - or maybe even more!
This article encompassed the all to real reality of women in politics. Women who want to create a name for themselves in politics or even the work place are judged and placed under more scrutiny because of the stereotype that women can't do a job the way a man can. Especially when it comes to politics, there will be every excuse in the book to say that women are to emotional or that women will get to invested and take forever to close a deal just to stop the hiring of women. Yang in the running for mayor is a great candidate but so were Wiley and Garcia but because of the genders of the latter, they were never given much of a chance. Pushing for change will have to start with understand that women are just as capable as men and that women can create change in ways that men could never think of. To change the mindset of people more women are simply gonna have to join the race, because with voters seeing and hearing the differences between the ideas of the candidates and the qualifications it will hopefully promote an understanding that women are just, and maybe even more, qualified than men.
I completely agree with this depressing sentiment. A man can walk into an interview and convince the employer why he should be hired and trusted with the position without any prior knowledge or experience in the field. A woman must have proof of experience and references validating her worth. This is a sad truth that needs to be disrupted. A start in changing the mindset of people would be to give women the same opportunity as men, in trusting their way to sell themselves, and requiring more from men, necessitating the same values and experiences to be upheld as they are for women. Policies that could be implemented in pushing this change forward would be to create a basis of which everyone is to meet, whether that be certain education, experience or any requirements tailored to the specific job in question.
The common theme throughout the article was that a women can be just as qualified as a man, but for whatever reason, men are just generally better received or taken more seriously by the public. As an example, there was the comparison between Cynthia Nixon and Andrew Yang. Cynthia Nixon was a "celebrity" with countless time devoted to civic engagement who tried to become a politician by challenging Andrew Cuomo. The public regarded her challenge as "she never stood a chance." Andrew Yang, on the other hand was a politician who became a celebrity by running for president. Standing on the democratic stage with other presidential candidates legitimized him in the view of the public. This depicts the unfairness towards women by the public. People seem to have a pre-conceived mentality to invalidate women by default. It is almost as if the public feels a women must prove herself worthy of the spotlight, whereas a man can just place himself in it. In order for this mentality to be erased, parents need to educate their children from a young age. They need to drill it home that women and men are created equal and are the same.
Sexism is a very common word to women as they face it everyday! Specially in the outer world (job market), women feel sexism a lot. I completely agree with this article when it talks about how men are judged based on their potential while women on their accomplishments. This is harmful for women who come from troubled pasts or women who have pasts that are usually not socially acceptable for politics or business. When women are getting selected for something (job), they have to go through more steps than men. But when it comes to get higher position or respect, women are judged on their accomplishment. Our society has settled its mind that women should not be on the highest position! And we are following it!! This is pure sexism!! Our society needs to come out of this and we have to take the first step towards it by protesting from our own place.