Kimberly Farmer L Uaa Kcuanvi Unsplash

Mind Your Language: Are Workplace Behaviours Really Gendered?

Back to Blogs
Blog Img

Mind Your Language: Are Workplace Behaviours Really Gendered?

In days gone by, the blur of placards, marches and emblazoned sashes would sing out as the unequivocal earmark of the feminist agenda. While there’s still a place for marches and taking to the streets, the strides towards equality for women in the workplace at every level have loudly taken up residence in a newer, faster, bigger theatre: online. #IWD2016 trended worldwide, and in the lead up to March 8th, VMA GROUP was preparing for the third and fourth events in our ‘Balancing the board’ programme: two seminars on the topic of “Limiting Behaviours: The key factors that affect women’s success in the workplace”.

In anticipation of the events, I read new stats and articles every day written by, and about, women in leadership, and the experiences they encountered on the way up the ladder. New blogs, new conferences, new hashtags, new infographics. The throng of empowered voices was inescapable, deafening and euphoric. Like many junior females stepping out of the wings of our careers for the first time, there’s a huge sense of responsibility to pick up the mantel. As such, the prospect of being at these seminars with senior level comms professionals while they identified and discussed ‘limiting’ behaviours to avoid in the workplace had me feeling excited and incredibly privileged.

Broadly speaking, the evenings filled me with hope. Imbalanced stats aside, seeing so many successful, empowered women talking confidently about the course of their trajectories ignited a sense of ambition and confidence in me that it was possible to reach the upper echelons of the working world without being compromised by my gender.

There was, however, one jarring theme that arose on several occasions on both evenings. Several women boldly told of how they’d managed to achieve certain work goals and command respect and attention by “ladding it up” a bit (as one attendee light-heartedly called it) – in effect, acting more “mannish” or “male”. While this received some furrowed brows, the response was largely in encouragement and support. It took me by surprise that this was the attitude, let alone that it was being discussed as a method for success rather than a problematic approach.

Why should I have to be any less ‘female’, and in doing so