I have a splendid sign over my
desk. It is bright pink with white letters: “All
men are created equal … poor things.”
I have believed for years
that women should not aspire to equality with men, nor should any minority
aspire to equality with the “norm”. Women
are better than that. So are blacks.
So are Hispanics. So are all the
other minorities.
Whenever I forget this
little lesson in life, something seems to crop up to remind me.
Most recently, I read an interview that BusinessWeekOnline conducted
with Marianne Sensale-Guerin, the Small Business Administration’s Small
Businessperson of the Year. In response
to the question on why she thought the SBA chose her, Ms. Sensale-Guerin said,
“…I think they looked closely at how I treat my employees.
I pride myself on taking care of my employees – they have to have
insurance, flexible hours, vacation time. We
live in a world where you have both parents working, and as an employer, I’m
very sensitive to those issues.”
And Ms. Sensale-Guerin’s
goal? To be successful enough so that
she can sell her business to her employees – they, then, could reap the
benefits of their hard work while she retired.
How many employers have you
ever worked for that were so sensitive to the present AND future needs of
employees? How many employers even
care?
No, I am very glad that
women are not equal to men. Women bring
a whole new perspective to the business world.
And it’s about time.
I’m very glad, too, that
we have managed to get past the early years of
“women’s lib”. Back then I
was one of the early members in the businesswomen’s association of Silicon
Valley. I am sad to report that we once
devoted an entire meeting to talking about what kind of scarf/tie to wear with
our business suits: should it be soft
and floppy, or short and stiff? Worse
yet, the consensus was that it should be as much like a man’s tie as
possible, so that we could “fit in.”
We’ve come a long way,
baby. And it’s about time.
My grandmother was an
entrepreneur before the word was invented, as yours may have been.
Many women were left alone to fend for themselves and raise their
families. My grandmother ran a gas
station and managed a small farm, with two stickers on her window that she was
immensely proud of: one from the Army,
and one from Navy, each showing she had a son in their service.
That was during WW II. She had
raised those two sons herself with her gas station and small farm, and
continued with both until her death a decade later.
I daresay that Grandma
didn’t care about floppy scarves. She
had more important things on her mind. And
so should we.
We have families that need
our guidance and love. We have
communities that need our leadership and sensitivity.
We have a world that can benefit immensely from the gifts that we, as
businesswomen, can bring to it. And we
have businesses that need … yes, a woman’s touch.
My other grandma raised her
family by herself, too – 5 children and a disabled husband.
She was a nurse, bless her heart. It
is for her, and the legions like her that the modern women’s lib movement is
meant to help most of all.
It is due to the armies of
women in mid-20th century who fought for equal pay, better working conditions,
child care, health insurance, Medicaid programs and work sharing that our part
of the world has become such a better place.
We certainly haven’t won
all of our battles. There is still a
long way to go. But, my goodness, can
you imagine what our world would be like if we had been like men?
If we had simply put on suits and said, “Yes, sir.”
No, we opted to be
different. We opted to represent the
under-represented, the poor, the neglected. And
more power to us for having tried. I
will continue to opt for the way of the turtle, slow and steady, so that as we
win our wars, everyone will benefit.
There was a History channel
program recently that showed Nazis proclaiming that US women could never help
in the war effort because we couldn’t do anything more severe than dust a
table. They didn’t know Rosie the
Riveter, or you or me.
I celebrate our difference.
I will fight tooth and nail
so that women and minorities don’t have to be equal to men.
Will you join me?
It’s time
