LAST WEEKEND, a controversial list of the ten most powerful women in Barbados was posted. It brought lots of debate. Many agreed with the list. Many found it “funny”, “disgusting”, “hugely inaccurate” or “inspiring”. The list was polarising.
This article won’t address the approximately 700 shares the list received, the reach it got, or the hundreds of Facebook posts it generated. This article will address a comment a Barbadian male made to me after reading the list. He said: “Toni, this list is subjective. It was written by one platform. However, do women in Barbados really have power?” He then chuckled.
Power is a very strong word. It is also very unsettling for anybody to be referred to as powerful.
Perhaps, what was more powerful than the women featured was the actual list and the heated debate it caused. It is time we heighten the discussion on elements such as power, influence and inspiration as it relates to Barbadian women.
The glass ceiling is still there. Feminists boast of statistics such as the fact that more females than males are enrolled and graduate from UWI. However, a preliminary look at the leadership in corporate Barbados and Government is still very much male-dominated.
Many are still hesitant to embrace the concept of a female CEO or even Prime Minister.
Whilst conversing with Dr Kerry Hall recently, she noted that she has been referred to as “emotional”. Her response was brilliant. She quickly responded to the person: “I am not emotional. I am passionate.”
One friend stated on Facebook that there are many women who quietly move up the corporate ladder.
The fact that these movements are done “quietly” is a serious problem. It was in a PBS Makers documentary featuring America’s most powerful businesswomen, Oprah stated that: “Nobody listens to you when you go quietly into the night.”
Why are so many women uncomfortable with standing firm and acknowledging our successes?
We continue to thicken the glass ceiling by some of the little actions and habits we embrace on a daily basis.
246 Mixtapes subsequently wrote an article suggesting other lists that should be considered given the massive response to this female power list. One wonders what the reaction would have been to a list of the top ten most powerful men in Barbados.
Would we have pitched the men against each other? Would we have written as many snide remarks about the majority if not all of the men in Facebook posts and on local gossip sites?
I also doubt that the men who occupied their statuses with descriptions such as “deplorable” to describe some of the women would ever have done so publicly to describe our Prime Minister, Governor General, Chief Justice Marston Gibson, C.O.Williams, “Bizzy” Williams, Bjorn Bjerkhamn, Peter Harris, and Kyffin Simpson, to name a few.
On reflection, we really cannot compare a female list to a male list because the inequality is still stark. We cannot judge them by the same standards. Female business leaders are not as prominent as some of the men mentioned. It is hard to call five female business leaders who are self-made, million-dollar entrepreneurs.
In the House of Assembly, we only have five females in a country with 30 constituencies. A mere 16.66 per cent. If that is not an example of inequality I do not know what is.
To return to the original statement my friend made, I believe that Barbadian women are powerful.
However, our power is not as visible as the power of Barbadian men. I also believe that we have a lot more ground to cover. Going quietly into the night will never do that. Not for us. Not for our daughters.
Toni Thorne is a young entrepreneur and World Economic Forum Global Shaper who loves global youth culture, a great debate and living in paradise. Email [email protected].
