https://www.wsj.com/articles/dont-ask-me-to-do-office-housework-11570959002?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=15
When discussing the role of women and women leadership in the Civil Rights Movement in class yesterday, it reminded me of this WSJ article I read over the weekend about women's roles in the office. Although it is not the most exact comparison, I think there is something to be said regarding the nature of roles that women are both given and expected to take on in organized situations. Just as women's crucial contributions to March on Washington were not immediately recognized because they weren't as saliently noticeable to onlookers on the day-of, characterizing the roles that women play in the background to make the march as successful as it was is similar to how women are often those who take on background roles in offices that make corporate culture what it is. I've never personally experienced this (I've also never been in the position in an office to feel this) but it's something I think I want to keep in mind moving into the type of work I want to do post-grad and in what kind of corporate culture I want to be in.
I think there are some telling parallels with this article and the contributions to the March on Washington. Though the WSJ article touches more on women carrying out frivolous tasks like pouring coffee or taking notes while men are able to uptake more fulfilling roles, I do see more women taking agency as individual contractors in spaces that require organizing, such as wedding planners, secretaries, assistants, and event handlers. I keep coming back to the topic of difference versus equality, where we see these roles as performing in the background, but not as any less important. The question for me, then, comes down to, how we have historically and continually pigeon-hole certain people for certain roles, and what kind of impact that has especially on those whose voices get to be heard in the end.
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