General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The debate over whether Hillary should be our candidate is over... [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)She did increase women hires, and she did start WM (and other corporations once they saw that it worked) on a more sustainable path. She was not senior enough to make any changes to corporate structure.
Lady Bird was "allowed" to beautify the highways. Michelle O is "allowed" to speak out on nutrition and obesity and exercise. The pulpit is given but in a very LIMITED way. Have these stances made a difference? Hell yes--but these women never got a chance to weigh in on issues such as nuclear disarmament or the size of our standing military...they just were not permitted access to that part of the portfolio. Starting to take my point?
Anyone who can't see this doesn't understand what she was dealing with as the first (unwanted) woman on that board, and the most junior person there, too. She couldn't have "demanded" union action any more than Lady Bird could have "demanded" that Lyndon shut down the Vietnam War. I mean, get real--how soon people forget what the corporate culture was like for women and minorities up until, frankly, very recently. Even as recently as twenty years ago, women and minorities in upper echelon positions were given the Token label even if they worked/crawled/hustled their way to the top. It's STILL not "done." It won't be until representation is proportional across industry and we aren't even close.