This past week, I read the comments actress Tilda Swinton made at a press conference after receiving a Golden Bear award for lifetime achievement at the Berlin Film Festival. The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement had encouraged people to boycott the festival, but Swinton chose to attend.
“Because what we’re all up against is this feeling of powerlessness and this is, in a way, the most difficult thing we’re all having to deal with right now. And so, any powerful action, gesture we can make feels like a good option.”
She was explaining that, while boycotting may at times be the best way to make a statement, she decided that in this instance, using the platform she had been given to speak out was the most powerful action she could take.
It got me thinking about women feeling powerless.
After this past November election, I was reminded that women hadn’t obtained the level of power we imagined back in the first International Women’s Year meetings 48 years ago. Those meetings were convened in every U.S. state and around the world. Growing numbers of women were becoming aware of the lack of rights and privileges we had, and begun thinking about possible remedies.
Today, we are facing an almost brutal use of force that creates a level of uncertainty larger than even the digital forces shaping our lives. After all, how do you fight the federal government or the Supreme Court?
Forty-eight years ago, I chose to look to solutions rather than accept complete frustration. After all these years, that is still my mindset, though I do recognize that something is still missing. As I see it, it’s not just that women haven’t gained more power. It’s that they haven’t yet claimed their power.
Let’s start with the basics, children and mothers. Children aren’t learning in school to the degree they once were. Feeding hungry children at school is now a political fight rather than a matter of health and nutrition. Maternal health is shameful when compared with the rest of the world’s developed countries. In many states, women have lost the right to choose the kinds of healthcare they can receive. Women still make less money for the same job as men, and it is said that the imbalance won’t be corrected for several more generations. Women in business are still struggling for promotions, leverage and true acceptance.
These are solvable problems, if people interested in solving them are willing to acquire and use power.
One encouraging statistic I saw recently is that we now have enough research on women’s leadership to show that women are generally better leaders than men. I do not know the criteria used, so I can’t say it is validated research, but it does suggest that there is hope.
In our effort to be nice, accommodating, good, competent, hardworking, and liked, women can miss the fundamentals of power that have ruled the world for centuries—fundamentals that have to be built through thoughtful practice. Hopefully, one day, we will be able to stop our wishful thinking and begin to build those ancient power habits and go forth with wisdom as well as both soft and hard power.
