OPINION
Ariba Shahid
Where is femininity in the corporate world? Why must a woman forgo her femininity to be taken seriously in the world of big business?
most corporate environments - the more the better they say. A little disclaimer here is that I believe every individual has the right to make choices for themselves and this is in no way me saying all women should be a certain way at work. Instead, this piece is me questioning the very system we operate in that makes one make changes in a personality subconsciously in order to excel and move ahead in a career.
Social conditioning
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efore I move onto the corporate world, I’m going to take an example from the public sphere instead to make a point about how rhetoric and conversations impact one’s he corporate world is brutal. It is also probably ten decisions about their personality. times worse for women. Hina Rabbani Khar served as the Foreign Minister for PaNot only do women have to deal with gender kistan in the Zardari administration during the early 2010s. She discrimination at the workplace during the hiring was also the youngest person to serve in the post, as well as the process, everything from compensation decisions to only woman to ever hold the office. She is also the first woman to career acceleration is impacted by either conscious or present the national budget, an event that happened more than unconscious systemic gender discrimination. And as if that weren’t six decades after partition. enough, they also have to go through somewhat of an identity crisis. A graduate of the LUMS and U Mass – Amherst, Khar was Because corporate environments are often so hostile to women and a qualified and in many ways empowered foreign minister that traditionally feminine traits, to fit in women end up having to lose possessed both poise and elegance that is required in a position bits of themselves to appease to the standard. that is as representative and embelic as it is technical and importWhile this is not a Pakistan specific problem and is a global ant. Yet despite this, her entire tenure as foreign minister was issue as well, it is still important to discuss it in our context. As a dominated by media discourse about her fashion and style sense. woman, I often wonder why I have to forgo my femininity to make For context, Khar’s style oozed sophistication and profesit big in the corporate world. It makes very little sense, especially sionalism. However, it was also feminine. You knew she cared considering men do not have to tone down their masculinity in the about how she looked and was not shy to show that she was a corporate world. In fact, masculinity and aggressiveness are lauded in woman. I don’t think I remember many or any TV packages for that matter discussing what shows, ties, cufflinks male politicians were wearing. That double standard made it seem like Khar was in the wrong. As a young impressionable teen, it embedded into my mind that it would’ve been easier for her had she been a plane Jane. That is how the media made me feel that I could not truly be myself if I wanted to be taken Ariba Shahid seriously. is a business journalist at {Note from editorial staff: The double standard is even more stark when you consider the Profit. She can be reached at variety of fashion choices male politicians have made. From as far back as Nawabzada Nasrullah’s ariba.shahid@pakistantoday. Fez with a tassel to more recent times when Mian Shehbaz Sharif has sported a fedora and cowcom.pk or at twitter.com/ boy boots - very little has been made of some of the sillier choices made by these powerful men} AribaShahid Similarly, flash forward to the 2020s. Maryam Nawaz has risen in prominence. The very fact that her style is always up for discussion is proof of the dual standards. Moreover, some even went on to say she shouldn’t have looked so glamorous at her son’s wedding if she wants to be taken seriously as a politician. Despite being an adult, I still feel that subliminally it made me believe that once my career
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