Where Do All the Women Go?

I just saw this video on Twitter, and it really caught my attention:

Then I went to her home page, and I think I’m in love.

It brings to mind something that I’ve been thinking about off and on for a while now. I have been lucky enough to meet and work with some extraordinary women in my life; women who are smart, interesting, insightful, honest, and powerful. Over the years, I have noticed their lives progressing and unfolding. And yes, some of them are CMOs or VPs and thriving in the world of work. But an awful lot of them have Dropped Out.

In this case, Dropping Out doesn’t mean retiring or even slowing down. But it means they have started their own dance or improv troupes, become consultants or independent contractors, started part-time blogging and selling real estate and running for city council or starting their own cafes… they aren’t working in their careers any more, and aren’t Somebody, however richly they deserve it. They make a fraction of the money, and impact a much smaller circle of people, but they have independence and control over their lives.

Of course, I am talking a little bit about myself. I still remember the male creative director at the big agency who told me I don’t know what women want in a weight loss product.

As with the ongoing questions about women in STEM, I wonder what the C-suites of the world are missing out on if they so consistently let these women slip out of their companies. And I wonder why conventional work is so deeply flawed that it can’t retain these incredibly talented, highly qualified women.

To quote Jane Evans in this blog post:

No wonder we left in droves… Brilliant creative women know their value and the power of their voice. They don’t have to stay in the middle of a scrum when there are far more fun games to play.

I don’t know that I’ve seen a woman attack her potential and her experience in this way, to name the forces that seek to exclude and silence her, and build a business modeled on those very things. To quote her again:

87% of women over fifty believe brands don’t care about them because they never see themselves in ads. Which is really stupid considering we purchase half of almost every single thing you sell.

I mean, I’m over on Unsplash looking for a stock photo of a woman for THIS VERY POST and when I search for “women” they are young, young, young. When I search for “older women” I get old men, landscapes, one photo of two old women, and a lot of images of young women. When I search for “middle aged woman” I get a different old man and more landscapes. “Older woman” is better, though I am still not seeing anything I like for this post.

So bless you, Jane, for inspiring me. I hope you inspire others, and be a badass for years to come. And maybe someday, we won’t just do the kind of work where we are happy with the outcome, but we’ll make a new kind of work where we can be happy in the process, the kind of workplace where women can thrive.