Months ago LIMBAUGH outraged women everywhere with his blast against women and rights to birth control …and in so doing called much needed attention to the intense battles over contraception and abortion legislation all over the country.
SANDBERG has thankfully gotten women talking — about organization issues and the need for women to examine their own feelings, thoughts, motivations, and behaviors….
BLAMING women is not the intent. DESCRIBING our SYSTEMS and OURSELVES is the issue …And how our systems function and limit women, and sometimes men, is at the core. Today we know that the states of Kansas, North Dakota, and Texas (there are likely more) are making headlines in their efforts to pass legislation to prohibit or severely limit abortion.
These are system issues indeed. Biased state governments are making efforts to limit the ability of women to make their own judgments about their bodies. Discussion and activism is needed again. If you are of the generation, as I am, where we thought these challenging issues had been tackled, or at least progress had been made, there is shock and awe that we are in the SAME PLACE we struggled with in the 60’s.
Consequently Cheryl Sandberg’s generation is poised to take up the dialogue again. Thankfully. I for one, want to support her efforts. If you disagree with her, at least see what you think and feel when you listen to her and read her book. She’s suggesting talking to one another, across disagreements. So one thing to examine is your belief in dialogue rather than in being RIGHT. Right keeps you stuck. When you believe you are right you seldom learn anything new…. but that’s the psychological subject of another blog.
For now: read, listen, get involved. Explore what your state is doing on the issues of abortion and contraception. These are discriminatory system issues that keep women from leading full and independent lives. If you’re not informed, you are unintentionally participating in the decisions that limit women’s lives. And if you aren’t LEANING IN in your organization because you are fearful to do so, you are colluding with the way your company/organization limits the progress of women leaders.