There’s been a lot of talk lately about the gender gap and equality at home and in the workplace. And, as a business owner and entrepreneur, I take much of it to heart. Employing a significant number or people, while also feeling passionate about opportunities for my friends, my daughter, myself – and any other women with blossoming careers, I know I have to stay in tune with what’s happening on the gender forefront. It’s a touchy subject and there’s a fine line that’s easy to cross and also tough to ignore – it’s a battle we’re still fighting despite the fact that it’s 2016 and in some places gender inequality is more of a war. I recently read a pretty powerful interview with Melinda Gates on Lenny – and some of it has stuck with me. Here are a few pretty poignant highlights and for the complete article, click here.
Interviewer: In every country in the world, women do more domestic labor than men do. But the disparity varies pretty drastically from country to country. In India, women are doing almost 6 hours of chores a day, while men do just about 1, whereas in Norway, women and men are much closer to parity — women do 3.6 hours of chores daily to men’s 3.1. Each culture is so different. What kind of strategy could get men doing more unpaid labor in Mumbai, and how would that differ from a strategy that could work in Oslo or Seattle?
Melinda Gates: Recognizing first that it’s a global problem is important. I would love to see us measure unpaid labor as part of gross domestic product worldwide. There’s no reason that we don’t. It’s one of those hidden, root inequities. Our economies are built on the backs of all this unpaid labor that women do. I would start there.
Interviewer: I’m glad that you mentioned the phrase “poverty is sexist.” Can you unpack that a little more for me?
Melinda Gates: Poverty disproportionately affects women around the world. Just with HIV/AIDS, 74 percent of new infections are in women. In fact, they’re young girls, between the ages of 15 and 24. Or if you ask, who has the chance to move into the city and get a good job out in the developing world? It’s a man. Who’s left to care for the kids back at home? The woman is.
Melinda Gates is clearly passionate about bridging that gender gap that’s holding women back – and I admire her positioning and efforts to help make a change. No matter what country or economy her foundation is focused on, it’s fascinating to see and understand how issues of “Poverty disproportionately affects women around the world.” It’s a change we have to work toward, a movement we need to be a part of and something to think about in our day-to-day.
Have you ever felt affected by gender inequality?
