The #1 Action You Can Take Today To Make Life More #GenderFair

Issue 254 — March 3, 2024

How many clip art flowers and pink figures, celebratory Women’s History Month posts have you seen already this March — and we’re just a few days into it? Somehow it seems that many people have forgotten (if they ever knew) that women needed this special month, just as February was Black History Month for the same reason — because the narratives of history have not been written with our lens, and often our accomplishments have been downright ignored — or stolen.

I have a long list of women who have been written out of history or never made it into the books. Women like Sybil Ludington who rode farther and mustered more troops to fight the British than Paul Revere (if he even existed), but only people in the small Connecticut town where she lived seem to have heard of her. Or Rosalind Franklin, whose work on DNA should have earned her the Nobel Prize that Francis Crick and James Watson accepted after her death without attribution to her essential contributions.

A portrayal of the under-appreciated historical hero, Sybil Ludington. Credit: historicamerica.org

It is important that we write these women back into the history that everyone learns, so that girls and all of us can see the role models who have gone before and be inspired by their accomplishments as well as the struggles they overcame despite the deeply ingrained social and often legal discrimination they faced.

No wonder a sweeping review of women’s diaries between 1599 and 2015 found that the most recurring theme was frustration, and according to Sarah Gristwood, author of an anthology based on these journals, “the resolution born of silent fury.”

Anger energy can spawn a movement, but aspirational energy must propel it forward.

I’ve learned that lesson from my decades in the women’s movement and other social justice movements such as the civil rights movement for racial justice and the movements for LGBTQ+ equality. I have seen both anger and aspirational energies in action. Hands down, my preference is for aspirational energy — for taking action to secure equality and justice instead of righteously protesting, driving the agenda forward instead of resisting push backs.

That is why I am personally so proud to announce that Take The Lead is partnering with Gender Fair to take the #1 action that we can do today to level the playing field: use our financial power to advance gender fair policies.

On March 4th, we are going all out to support the launch of Shop Gender Fair Day, starting at 11:00 AM EST. You’ll find it live on March 4 at genderfair.com/campaign. Join us and many other organizations to change our frustration with injustices like the gender pay gap into action by using their app to make purchases based on your values. Download the app bit.ly/3Iit95a here and subscribe to the Gender Fair community. How powerful is that? Be sure to use the code TTL024.

Plus, with every subscription to the app using this special code, you’ll also be supporting Take The Lead’s work to achieve intersectional gender parity in leadership. We will receive a donation when you enter our dedicated code in the app. This will go a long way to creating a fair and equal workplace that respects women’s contributions, supports leadership development programs, and values gender parity in its leadership.

Gender Fair is the first and largest consumer platform that rates companies on their gender and diversity practices. With every subscription to their app, we can collectively become market activists.

Leadership & Opportunities

Do you care about career advancement? Gender Fair metrics reveal how many women are on the board, in C-Suite, in management and if a company provides career opportunities to women to achieve aspirations for leadership.

Employee Policies

Do you care about the childcare crisis, pregnancy and family leave, pay equity, and sexual harassment? Gender Fair metrics reveal the number of weeks for primary and secondary parental leave, policies around sexual harassment, family leave, child care, and pay equity assessments.

Advertising & Communications

Gender Fair metrics measure unconscious gender bias in advertising.

Diversity Reporting

Gender Fair metrics reveal if a company reports on the diversity of its employees and suppliers, including women-owned businesses.

Social Impact

Do you care if a company is philanthropic? Gender Fair metrics reveal if a company funds programs to advance girls and women.

Will you join us, not just on March 4th, but throughout March and ever after to mass our purchasing power to advance gender equality? Be sure to use the code TTL024. And you can help spread the word to further mass our purchasing power by tagging @taketheleadwomen (LI and FB) or @takeleadwomen (everywhere else), and @genderfair if/when you post about it on social media, using these hashtags: #IBuyGenderFair #ShopGenderFairDay. @genderfair #iBuyGenderFair #ShopGenderFairDay

P.S. At Take The Lead’s 10th anniversary kick off event, ForbesWoman editor Maggie McGrath asked me what I’d say to companies that are afraid to take a public stand on issues. Here’s a short clip of my reply that happened to include a shout out to Gender Fair!

GLORIA FELDT is the Cofounder and President of Take The Lead, a motivational speaker, a global expert in women’s leadership development and DEI for individuals and companies that want to build gender balance. She is a bestselling author of five books, most recently Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good. Honored as Forbes 50 Over 50, and Former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, she is a frequent media commentator. Learn more at www.gloriafeldt.com and www.taketheleadwomen.com. Find her @GloriaFeldt on all social media.