The importance of maintaining femininity

Rebecca Meghani News Editor

The progress of women becoming more included in the boardroom and being seen as equally professional as their male counterparts does not come without its issues. The societal stan- dards already placed on women become exceedingly more problematic when it comes to being a woman in the workplace.

Women are constantly pushing back barriers to make space for themselves due to the restrictions placed on them for being a woman. As a woman, we hear about what it means to be a professional and how to act as a leader. The traits used in these examples are what they see as traditional but we see as masculine traits before women were even al- lowed in the workspace. How can we progress as a society if we are rooting our expectations in a time when men and women were so drastically unequal to each other?

“No emotion in the boardroom.”

“This is a workplace, not a fashion show.”

“Don’t draw attention to yourself.”

“Just listen and learn from the professionals.”

Women are constantly conforming to the workplace that men have created, and their femininity is being pushed into a box, like they see feminine traits as dirty words. What is not discussed as often is how femininity can be a strength in the professional world.

See FEMININITY| Page 3