I read several things this week that really kept me thinking. One was an infographic from Karima-Catherine Goundiam on Women and Mentoring in the U.S. , the other a post by Gini Dietrich “Women Are Our Own Worst Enemies.” First, I send a #TiaraTip to both of these ladies, it’s like a #HatTip but more sparkly.

Why, as women, are we running faster and working harder to get ahead in the world or more appropriately just to get equal ground? Betty Friedan wrote “The Feminine Mystique in 1963. She began the book with “the problem that has no name” ~ the widespread unhappiness of women in the 1950′s and 1960′s.  This powerful piece of literature sparked the second-wave feminism which addressed de facto inequalities, official legal inequalities and more. The first-wave feminism addressed legal rights for women to vote and own property.

“Men are not the enemy, but the fellow victims. The real enemy is women’s denigration of themselves.”
― Betty Friedan

Why do women tear each other down instead of boosting and building each other up? When I had my first job at a bank years ago, I got promoted fairly quickly to the Secretary (yes, that was my title) to the Vice President of Something. The older women in the department had the opportunity to teach me and help a fellow woman be successful but that isn’t what happened at all. Instead, I learned that even as grown adults, women will talk behind your back and look at confidential information on your desk. Lesson learned. Read this article »