Today, men and women still have very different perceptions of empowerment and freedom. The difference is based in our different histories, but continues because women still dwell in our history while men live in the present.
As women we are taught that empowerment and freedom are granted to us by those with power. We are also taught that white men have always had them. I saw this view expressed in a comment by a young woman who wrote “White men have never had to fight for their freedom.”
I posted a simple reply, “Yes they did. It was called the Revolutionary War.”
We often forget how very different life was prior to the mid-18th century when the vast majority of people were oppressed and struggled just to survive. The American and French revolution were the historic milestones when common white men rebelled against the tyranny, power and control of monarchies and the church. They fought for their inherent right to liberty, individual freedom and self-determination.
Through revolution, liberty and personal freedom emerged as guiding principles for societies.
In the United States the importance of liberty and self-determination is portrayed in The Bill of Rights. It guarantees citizens certain freedoms and limits the power (control) of the federal government. The Tenth Amendment specifically states:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
The U.S. Constitution elevates personal liberty above the power that was historically held by a governing entity. In doing so it gave men a new self-image where they were free and empowered to act based upon what they believe is best.
Men applied this same concept in their workplace. When the captains of industry acted like kings and treated men as serfs, once again men rebelled. The labor and union movements began the procession to give men more liberty and self-determination in the workplace.
Men don’t aspire to have power over others.
Men aspire to be independent.
Therefore men rebel when faced with oppressive power.
This is why I always push back when someone says the male-dominated workplace is all about power and the only way women can have power is by tearing down men and claiming power on behalf of women. If women try to oppress or assert power over men, men will find a way to rebel. Every women who supervises or manages men needs to understand that.
Men believe liberty, autonomy, independence and self-determination are an inherent part of their being. They aspire to have freedom to use their own judgement to do what they want, when they want, how they want. Men understand this about each other. Therefore, today most men don’t even try to control other men. They understand the futility in it.
Women, slaves and people of color have a very different history with liberty and we have to be aware of how that changes our perceptions. These groups weren’t granted equal rights because some (not all) white men were fearful their self-determination and self-interests would be negatively impacted.
In 1870 the 15th Amendment to the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by stating that the “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
Women had to wait until another 50 years for the 19th Amendment to be ratified in 1920 to have voting rights.
The 15th and 19th Amendments and the subsequent Voting Rights Act of 1965 weren’t achieved by revolution. They were achieved by convincing men with power to grant others the same rights as them. This distinction had a profound effect.
Women and people of color don’t see themselves with liberty. They see themselves as being granted license.
License is very different from liberty.
License says there are entities who have the power to control and restrict the actions of other people. People only have as much self-determination as these entities grant them – which is what happened with the 15th and 19th Amendments. To be enforced requires more legislation – which is why the Voting Rights Act was necessary.
License reinforces in women that we need to ask permission for additional independence and self-determination. We have to prove ourselves worthy before we can assert or advance ourselves. If we are fortunate, the entities who hold power will write more rules, policies and laws to grant us more authority over our own lives.
Men define Empowerment as Liberty
Women define Empowerment as License
Today women need to update our perspective and grab our legal equality by embracing our liberty. Out of all the lessons I learned from working with men the most important was to believe in my inherent right to liberty. Not license, liberty.
“The most common way people give up power is by believing
they don’t have any” – Alice Walker
I believed that I had the same right to pursue the same jobs and opportunities as my male colleagues and get paid as much as men. If someone told me I couldn’t because I was a woman, I did what my male colleagues would do – I challenged them: “Who are you to deny me my right to self-determination and decide what I do?”
It is amazing how many men respected me when I said this. I didn’t threatened them or try to take them down. I just stood up for myself. In doing so I was speaking their language of liberty and self-determination. I not only understood their values, I voiced them and stood up for them. That earned me respect and trust.
During the course of my career I’ve seen pretty much all of the career restrictions against women get removed. Today there is no reason why women (and people of color) shouldn’t see ourselves with the same inherent right to liberty and self-determination as (white) men. If someone questions why we are living our life as we are and making the choices we make our answer should be “Because it’s what I want to do.”
Unfortunately, there are still many people and organizations who still tell us women must be granted more licence because they don’t recognize our inherent right to liberty. Even worse some tell us that they want power so they can fight on our behalf and then grant us more license. This should be a huge red flag warning to us.
We should question, “Why don’t you recognize my inherent right to liberty and self-determination? Why don’t you believe that I have the personal power and fortitude to exercise my liberty? Why don’t you believe in my inherent equality?”
Women have a choice. We can continue to live in our past history seeing ourselves as requiring and being only worthy of license. Or, we can do what men did in 1776 and exercise our inherent right to liberty, self-determination and equality.
Empowered Women Exercise Their Liberty
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