{"id":762,"date":"2017-05-26T09:00:05","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T13:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=762"},"modified":"2017-05-30T15:18:08","modified_gmt":"2017-05-30T19:18:08","slug":"how-to-support-the-women-in-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=762","title":{"rendered":"How to Support the Women in Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Where are the Men? <\/em><\/h1>\n

By Chris Allen<\/em><\/p>\n

The old saying goes: \u201cBehind every great man is a great woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, what about every great woman? Is there a man supporting her success \u2014 practically and emotionally? Could men\u2019s support of women be key for greater and faster progress for increasing gender equality? I think the answer is yes.<\/p>\n

From the 1970s to the early 2000s, there was fairly consistent progress in the advancement of women\u2019s rights. The gender wage gap decreased. The percentage of women in management and political leadership increased. There was greater diversity in many occupations, from medicine to engineering.<\/p>\n

However, this progress has stalled. Despite the fact that women comprise roughly half the country\u2019s population and earn almost half of all advanced professional degrees, we lag in positions of leadership and real economic power.<\/p>\n

At the current rate of change, the Center for American Progress estimates women won\u2019t reach parity with men in political and economic domains in the United States until the year 2085. My own children will be more than 90 years old.<\/p>\n

There is considerable data showing that gender equality not only benefits women but helps everyone. This holds true for individual companies as well as whole countries.<\/p>\n

The truth is we cannot fully empower girls and women if men aren\u2019t part of the solution. Since men hold the greatest economic and political power, they\u2019re in a position to impact gender equity by supporting, promoting, mentoring and encouraging women.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, some men won\u2019t get it; the irony of privilege is when we have privilege, we\u2019re inclined not to recognize it as such. Some men will deny that women lack advantages, claim reverse discrimination or \u2014 even worse \u2014 argue women belong at home.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, most men don\u2019t believe this. Rather, many have little impact on gender equality, simply because they aren\u2019t aware of the importance of their actions or don\u2019t know what actions to take.<\/p>\n

So, men, here are some suggestions to help move society toward equality: <\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Share the non-work related responsibilities. This includes family obligations, childcare, housework and financial management. One woman I spoke with said, \u201c[My husband] is an equal partner at home. He does not shirk ANY responsibility related to home, cleaning or childcare.\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. Promote and support equal pay for equal work. Promote policies that favor salary transparency so women and men can compare and see if they\u2019re being paid fairly. Speak up if you know injustice and unfairness are happening.<\/li>\n
  3. Be an involved and engaged father. This includes supporting girls and women as athletes. Sports for children and teenagers can contribute greatly to girls\u2019 self confidence and self esteem. Research shows successful women often had fathers who encouraged them.<\/li>\n
  4. Speak up to other men who don\u2019t get it \u2014 especially when you hear them say something thoughtless to or about women. Don\u2019t ignore it when you witness sexual harassment at work; encourage women to report it and be willing to report it yourself. Call it out as what it is: wrong.<\/li>\n
  5. Offer to help in the kitchen at family events. There are some women who won\u2019t \u201clet\u201d you help, but you can still offer. If several men offer together, maybe women will be more likely to accept! (Women, please accept the help, even if it isn\u2019t how \u201cyou\u201d would do things!)<\/li>\n
  6. Take pride in being in the life of a successful woman! A women\u2019s success doesn\u2019t have to diminish the status of the man. It\u2019s not a zero-sum game. Data show gender equality is a win-win for everyone in health, happiness and success.<\/li>\n
  7. Promote women and prioritize diversity in the professional world. A woman I talked to said, \u201cAt work, mentor me and support new opportunities for me.\u201d Everyone needs support and encouragement. Men should celebrate the victories with women, rather than offer a half-hearted, inattentive, \u201cThat\u2019s nice, honey!\u201d<\/li>\n
  8. Be one of the MWGUs \u2014 \u201cMen Who Get Us,\u201d a term I learned from local businesswoman, leader and entrepreneur, Gwen Webber-McCleod, who describes her partner as someone who \u201cfully gets me.\u201d She goes on to say an MWGU \u201cunderstands what it takes for a woman to be successful, believes in her and is always positioned to support and help her succeed.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Although it may take the help of men to bring women\u2019s power, strength and leadership to the forefront, we will all reap the benefits! SWM <\/em><\/p>\n

    Chris Allen, a workplace psychologist and executive coach, is the vice president of Insight Business Works. For more information, visit insightbusinessworks.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Where are the Men? By Chris Allen The old saying goes: \u201cBehind every great man is a great woman.\u201d Well, what about every great woman? Is there a man supporting her success \u2014 practically and emotionally? Could men\u2019s support of women be key for greater and faster progress for increasing gender equality? I think the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[246,240,136],"class_list":["post-762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-chris-allen","tag-june-2017","tag-special-feature"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cropped-SWM-logo-use-this-one.jpg?fit=930%2C448&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1597,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1597","url_meta":{"origin":762,"position":0},"title":"Dollars and Sense","author":"Staff","date":"March 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Celebrating Our Fore-Sisters By Colette Powers\u00a0 As a woman in finance, I\u2019ve often wondered what it was like to be in the financial sector at a time when women weren\u2019t afforded the same opportunities as men, when social norms assumed women would naturally want to tend to domestic duties. 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