Women’s History Month: Do We Need Power to Make A Difference?

I’m posting this in celebration of Women’s History Month, 2022, but I’ve been thinking about it for decades.

History months always make me ponder what it takes to “make history” and it seems that historical figures need to check two boxes to make it into this rarefied, if sometimes stuffy, air:

1. Do something of significant scale to impact history so future generations have a reason to care about you
2. Access the power necessary to be recognized and recorded by historians

Number 2 above is the reason we have history months (not to be confused with heritage, appreciation and awareness months). Women, Blacks, LGBTQs and many others who have no month to their name have done things that significantly impact history. But the fact that they’ve lacked the power and influence to show up in the history books is a wrong that needs the righting of a history month. 

Isn’t it? 

How Keeping Women Out of the History Books Hurts Us All

Yes we do need to rewrite history to include important people glossed over when white men did all the historical journaling, and we need to do this because it’s not only fair to those left out, it’s fair to all of us. Putting all important people back into the history books, regardless of their demographic category, is important for everyone. Memorializing all meritorious people, including women, gives everyone in the history books more credibility, because we can believe they truly deserve to be there. 

Here’s an amazing case in point. Did you know that Rosalind Franklin made the crucial discovery that enabled Watson and Crick to crack the structure of DNA? Did you know that Crick only admitted that they used her research without telling her or acknowledging her contribution after she had died? This leads me to wonder whether these men deserve all the accolades they’ve received. Maybe, but without including Franklin in the history as it was being written this posthumous knowledge merely casts doubt on them through the historical lens.

When you read stories about women like Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan who were the hidden figures in U.S. space program, and so many other women who had their contributions stolen by less capable men, it casts doubt on everything we think we know about who we are and what we value. 

Historical Figures as Role Models 

History isn’t just about the past. History also shapes what we believe is possible in the future. Women’s history having been largely invisible, it’s no wonder so many women struggle to see themselves at the top, a critical precursor to actually getting there. What would little girls believe about themselves and their abilities if everyone knew the name of Émilie du Châtelet, who built modern physics on Newton’s discoveries, as well as they know Albert Einstein and so many others, who built upon her work?

I, for one, may not have abandoned my interest in numbers and math at the age of 14 when I struggled with my first geometry class. Looking back on my early career, I can see that I lacked mentors who believed that I shouldn’t let numbers get in my way. Actually, I think I lacked mentors, period, but I can identify several distinct points where (absent information to the contrary) I fell victim to the belief that “girls aren’t good at math.” In hindsight I can see at these turning points that I made poor career decisions, like choosing not to go to business school because I was afraid of the financials. Today I can see this was just boneheadedly wrong, and that decision probably cost me 10-15 years of career development and over a million dollars in lifetime income. Instead of getting an MBA, I had to learn the hard way that I do understand numbers and, even more importantly, I have a particular knack for understanding systems and patterns that the numbers reveal. 

Despite the challenges individual girls and women have with this stereotype, overcoming the belief that “women aren’t good at math” has proven to be a really hard cultural problem as well. I have to believe that if Rosalind Franklin was as well known as Watson and Crick it wouldn’t be hard at all for little girls like me to stay interested in math and science, without their fathers, mothers, brothers, teachers, mentors and friends constantly encouraging them to give it up. The way I see it, omitting these women from history commits a cultural crime against both little girls (who on average demonstrate equal aptitude for STEM subjects) and humanity as a whole, who don’t benefit from all the intelligence those little girls could bring to discovery and invention.

Women’s History: How Power Makes a Difference

Unlike the women left out of scientific history, Queens and Prime Ministers are more likely to be included, at least; even if they don’t usually manage to avoid negative stereotypes. Top political figures have one thing scientists don’t: economic and military power. And if history is anything, it’s the story of power and how it’s wielded through the ages.

Like many women, I’ve often felt I don’t need the trappings of power to feel powerful and I don’t need to be recognized to make a difference. I still believe this. But on looking more deeply at the dynamics of power and leadership, and the legacy wisdoms about them which have been bequeathed to us by history, I’ve shifted my views a bit. 

Today I feel more comfortable believing that women need to wield power to make a difference. I believe this for two reasons:

1. Power creates the opportunity to make a difference–for better or worse–on a much grander scale. 
2. Women bring unique and positive dynamics to the exercise of power, contributing openness to change and better management of risk in top leadership roles, among other things.

And yet, when women hold power they are still subject to limiting and often negative stereotypes, frequently perpetuated by popular media, which subvert their value to us all as useful role models (see the costs of this above). What if we all understood Queens like Cleopatra, Bodica, Catherine the Great and Victoria, as well as Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Margaret Thatcher as the nuanced, complicated and powerful women they are instead of the simplistic, divisive and feminized versions Hollywood tends to portray more often?

“Women make history.”  – Click to Tweet

Celebrating Women’s History Through the Powerful Women of TODAY

One of the most enlightening ways to view women’s history – and to begin undoing the negativity of historical stereotypes – is to read about the amazing things women in power are accomplishing today. Forbes and CEO Magazine have compiled just two of many good read lists worth your time. What impresses me in reading these lists is the variety of roles that women are taking that wield power in every industry and field. They paint a varied and interesting picture of how women use power. It’s inspiring to see these women standing in the spotlight and encouraging to see that they are generally heralded for:

• Their business savvy and negotiating prowess
• Their courage to take on tough issues and stand behind what they believe in
• Their willingness to balance economic and social benefits to the good of all

Doesn’t our world need a little more of all that? I’m excited and proud to be a part of this chapter of women’s history. How about you?