Women in the Workplace

Perhaps one of my favorite lines from the book Lean In by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is 

"When a man is successful, he is liked by both men and women. When a women is successful, people of both genders like her less." Below is a new Pantene commercial that attempts to highlight some of the biggest gender stereotypes women face in the workplace and in positions of leadership.

Sheryl also writes, "We're aware that when a woman acts forcefully or competitively, she's deviating from expected behavior. If a woman pushes to get the job done, if she's highly competent, if she focuses on results rather than on pleasing others, she's acting like a man. And if she's acting like a man, people dislike her."

Pantene also hits the nail on the head by telling women not to let labels "hold them back." These workplace stereotypes are not only an example of how society holds women back, but how women hold themselves back. When faced with negative labels like the ones in the commercial, many women shy away from pursuing careers and leadership because of the negative social pressure. No person with a family would want to be labeled selfish for working, for example, and since this label will most likely be placed on working mothers, it follows that many of them will opt out of being in the workforce.

While the video definitely oversimplifies things, I am glad that Pantene made the decision to air this commercial. More people and companies in power should follow this example by using their power to spread awareness. The only way to change stereotypes is to actively be aware of them and resist prejudgement. Even this small step could begin to break down these harmful and negative stereotypes.