I've never considered myself a #feminist. In fact, I disliked the notion without even thinking much about it.
Back in my corporate days, I remember some male colleagues saying “you work like a man.” Again, I never considered what that meant. On hindsight, they probably meant that I seemed ambitious, direct, driven, confident (or arrogant—depending on who you asked). And those things are supposed to describe men, not women.
Fast forward to 3 years ago, when I was running #ReadinGraphics. We received a few emails from female customers requesting for more women-centric books, or books written by female authors.
“I’m suffering from testosterone-overload’, one of them said. Another asked why we only chose books by white, male authors.
That surprised me, because that was never our intent. Yet, when I examined our shortlisted books + the books available in the market, I realized how FEW top-selling books were by female authors relative to male authors (and yes, mainly white male authors).
I started to read books like Lean In, Invisible Women, The Handmaid’s Tale, etc. And once I started looking at the facts, figures, and even my own experiences, I realized that the #gendergap exists all around us. I just hadn’t felt it acutely because of my personality (I work “like a man”) and the relatively safe, modern work environment in Singapore.
Today, we have women from literally all over the world working hard at ReadinGraphics to bring great ideas to life. On #internationalwomenday, I'd like to acknowledge this amazing team of women, and to share our affirmations and hopes for fellow women around the world.
Also I took some time to consolidate some of the insights I’ve gleaned about gender discrepancies and mindsets for successful women in this video on my channel: https://lnkd.in/g55FzDrb.
I strongly agree with #SherylSandberg on the need for more women in leadership roles, and for more leaders (both men + women) to work together to remove barriers to equal opportunities for both genders. Doing my part to spread the word! #womenempoweringwomen #empoweredwomen
Meet the women from Readingraphics, as we celebrate the strengths of fellow women around the world, and share our hopes for a better world.🌸 💪🌍 Go, ladies!
Angela Lam Nataly Huff Innovate Forward Marketing Jenney Rose Hambre Bulauan Vanja Markovic Mahira Mehmood
#WomenEmpowerment #StrongWomen #HappyInternationalWomensMonth 💼📚
Chief People Officer, Transformation Leader, & Founder
7moHappy International Women’s Day!