Contents 1 “Angela Merkel pretends to be a man” 2 How to measure a female? On a page
Why are there still so few women in leadership positions? The British feminist Mary Beard explains in the Interview, why don’t the women need to change – but the structure of Power.
TIME ONLINE: 100 years Ago women were not allowed to choose, today, a woman leads the Brexit negotiations and Germany, for 13 years a Chancellor. Shouldn’t we just be happy about the state of equality?
Mary Beard: of Course, we should look forward. In my Generation the women’s movement of the sixties has spearheaded a Revolution and now we benefit from it. But just wait and hope that in 50 years, all positions of power will be equally of women and men occupied, is not enough. We need to act.
Mary Beard
63, is a British historian and women’s rights activist. She is a Professor at Cambridge University. In March, her book “women & Power: A Manifesto”, in Fischer Verlag.
TIME ONLINE: In the past few years, much has been done to make it easier for women to come to Power. For example, there are mentoring programs specifically for women and family-friendly working hours. Why isn’t that enough?
Beard: All of these things are important, but they are not our culture Makes on the head. The biggest problems are in our minds, in our assumptions about Power and gender. We don’t have to radiate to think about why we perceive the voices of women voices of sovereignty and authority. Why does it sound like a criticism, when we refer to a woman as ambitious?
“We are always focused too much on individual leaders and not think enough about Power in the Form of collaboration.”
Mary Beard
TIME ONLINE: Why is it that women are still less likely to be in positions of power?
Beard: In Western culture, the oppression of women is firmly anchored. Since it is worthwhile to look back to the ancient Romans and Greeks. In Greek mythology, women, the grasping of Power is cut off, the tongue, or the whole head. Since centuries we are living with these images and have to this day. I’ve taken the time to the fun, in the UK Google images search for “cartoon to look for a professor”. I deliberately searched for Cartoons to get an impression of clichés. Among the first 100 results of a single woman: Professor Holly from the Pokémon Farm.
TIME ONLINE: you write in your book, it is not necessary to change the women, but the structure of Power. That sounds good, but how to do that?
Beard: That is the very, very big question and I wish I had a simple answer. The fact is: The current and the historical power structures were made by men. Currently, women have to adapt if you want to have influence. Instead, we could think of, but basically about how Power works and what it actually means. We are always focused too much on individual leaders and not think enough about Power in the Form of collaboration. It is not the charismatic leaders, often only to lose its supporters. But when people fight together for something, you actually, you have to move something.
TIME ONLINE: do you Have an example?
Beard: Yes, the Black-Lives-Matter-movement. This is one of the most influential movements of the recent time. She is an advocate against violence against Black and was founded by three women, whose names probably no one knows. Nevertheless, these women exert influence, they operate outside the traditional power structures.
“If Theresa May will go down as a powerful woman in the story, you can’t say now.”
TIME ONLINE: Is there a difference between female and male?
Beard: is male coded, so women, have the Power automatically to men. In Essence, the male and female Makes no different so far, so because the women simply copy the men. There are no role models for female Power. Angela Merkel pretends to be a man, in the way she dresses and how she talks. So this has made even Margaret Thatcher and, most recently, Hillary Clinton. Theresa May, I suspect, with their extravagant shoes of the men to withdraw. But whether it will really go down as a powerful woman in the story, you can’t tell now.
