Wonder why?

Hér er brot úr bókinni Doing Leadership Differently eftir Amanda Sinclair (bls 178):

For the few women in leadership roles, there has been no discernible reinforcing relationship between being a leader and being a woman. Indeed, being 'seen' as a woman diminishes one´s leadership. Behaviours which draw attention to sex - such as displays of overt femininity, being pregnant, references to family, wearing colorful or expressive clothes, lobbying for women or adopting explicit feminist stances - typically diminsh a woman's leadership potential in the eyes of observers. This dilemma gives aspiring female leaders an extra handicap and strips them of the potentially reinforcing source of identity and esteem which many male leaders continue to enjoy.

This explains why women, consciously and unconsciously, have used all sorts of strategies to conceal gender and sexuality, to camouflage, to blend in rather than stand out. By dressing in particular ways, by playing along with the jokes, by not supporting other women, by not allowing oneself to be associated with 'women´s issues' or by seeding to minimise one´s absences from the workplace for maternal or family reasons, women have sought to reduce the visibility and the impact of their gender and their sexuality.

But this strategy is self-defeating, as shown in this and other research. Women´s effort to conceal sex expose them to charges of 'trying to hard to be one of the boys'. And the constant effort of concealment deprives women of an important part of identity, a sense of self which rightly should be a central and reinforcing component of their leadership. Nor has the camouflage strategy produced other sought-after outcomes. It has not enabled many more women to assume leadership positions or facilitated a recognition and celebration of range of approaches to leadership among women.

********
Mér finnst afar áhugavert að pæla í svona hlutum.