You may have seen the article we published a while back on our partnership with TwitterAU and the soapbox event we hosted with them.
12 women spoke for 140 seconds on their position of strength.
We’ve already shared our Editor Jane Gilmore’s speech on secrets and shame
Susan Mclean on achieving in a men’s space
Kate Ashmore on refusing to give up.
Lisa Annese on don’t let chicks up front fool you
Andrea Clark on having the confidence to speak
Today we’re bringing you the brilliant Cyan Ta’eed, co-founder of the global marketplace for developers and designers, Envato and one of the most sought-after women on the speaker circuit, especially for tech and entrepreneurial events.
Cyan’s #PositionOfStrength
I know a few men who are transitioning to part-time work to spend more time with their kids. Women do this all the time, but when men try they’re rarely met with encouragement or even acceptance.
We tell men they’re desirable mates when they have professional ambition, are powerful and are the provider. There is a lot of fear about what “staying home with the kids” means for a man. Are their friends going to joke about them? Is their father in law going to look down on them? Will they be seen as a lesser man?
We as women aren’t trained to see men who stay home with their children as aspirational mates. But if we thought about it, we would. As any working mother knows you can be just as ambitious and career focused working part time with young children. The same is true of men. Beyond that, how amazing is a man who wants to be more present in his children’s lives? How about one who supports his partner so they can work too? That’s my sort of man. In fact, my husband is that sort of man, and I am very grateful for that.
The reason this is a big deal for women is because as long we make flexible work a “working mother’s issue”, women who have children will be handicapped in their careers.
When our society positions mothers as the only suitable recipients of flexible work, everybody loses. Flexibility benefits women and men, whether they have children or not. What is the downside of a professional culture where every person has the flexibility to pursue goals outside of their work, pursue additional education, or care for children or family members?
We need to support the trailblazing men who work flexibly, despite what people think. If you hear a conversation framing flexible work as a women’s issue, argue its merits for men too. If you find out a man is working flexibly for whatever reason, tell him how manly you think that is. Because it is! A man who wants to work flexibly to be home with his kids, pursue his education, care for his parents, support his partner or just pursue goals outside of work is a real man.
It’s time we start encouraging workplace flexibility for women and for men. When we do, everybody wins.