This concept isn’t new or controversial. But some men still get—nervous… itchy—when women succeed and break the so-called glass ceiling.
The New York Times recently published an opinion piece explaining why it’s obscene when organizations, people, and, yes, even democratic strategists who support Hillary Clinton—the woman who could become America’s first female president—don’t support female success.
It’s all about trickle down
The NYT column aptly points out that when American states granted women the right to vote, politicians tried to gain women’s approval in interesting ways.
For example, politicians began to promise more money to public health issues and children’s health.
The writer points out that many children who benefited from these policies were boys, and many of those boys are men today. When women received equal voting rights, men, technically, benefited, too.
And when women began becoming police officers, crimes, such as rape and domestic violence, got more attention.
Preventing crime, such as rape and domestic violence, directly helps women, but also men tangentially, too. When a man gets arrested for harming a woman, other men see that action as unacceptable.
And any young male who lives in a home of, or knows a woman who’s subjected to these crimes, gains insight into how traumatic assault is.
Women succeed in the office
One study found the optimal mix of women and men in a business setting is 55 percent female, 45 percent male. Why? Women balance some male tendencies to take unnecessary risk.
This thought process also is applied to institutions of higher learning.
When women were granted access to college, their world opened. Stay-at-home mom and wife—both wonderful jobs when chose by a woman—were no longer a woman’s only option when she turned 18 years old.
Women could go to school and become professors, doctors, lawyers… anything.
And women who have earned degrees and become experts have changed the lives of both men and women.
It’s all better
So, we’ll close this piece with the thoughtful words The Times published:
“To to those men who worry about being hurt by the shards from one more shattered glass ceiling, I’d say: Not only is this inevitable, not only is it a matter of fairness, but the evidence is also overwhelming that when women gain power and a seat at the table, we men benefit as well. So let’s relax and join the celebration.”
Damn right.
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