Read on Twitter
1. A thread about things.
I've been blessed enough in my life to work with amazing, inspirational women. Too many to mention but all of them left a big impression on me. I realise now that my "impression" was hideously malformed by my own prejudice.
I've been blessed enough in my life to work with amazing, inspirational women. Too many to mention but all of them left a big impression on me. I realise now that my "impression" was hideously malformed by my own prejudice.
2. I was fortunate enough to have a long call with an old colleague in which she relayed some harsh truths about our former, shared place of work. I'd asked her to do this and she was gracious enough to afford me another learning opportunity.
3. During our conversation, a number of things struck me - mainly my own failures. But the one I want to share here was the most powerful. I wanted to write it down not because it's novel, but because it's so obvious I can't believe I missed it for so long.
4. And if I missed it, you may have too. So here's the deal. You go to work somewhere. You go in the door. Except, if you're a white man (like me) chances are your door is almost certainly not the same door as others. It's definitely not the same door as your female colleagues.
5. But you're in the same space, right? Wrong. You might think you are, but as soon as you came in your entrance the staircases, doors and offices arranged themselves in a certain way. Your female colleague may inhabit the same space, but everything is configured differently.
6. And not just different, but harder. You're route to a place may have 10 steps. Hers will have 20, or have no route there at all. I could go on, but you get the point.
7. So you see the people in the same space and you think "you're here, right?" but they're not. They're not where *you* are. It's not that their perception is different. Reality is, at a fundamental level. Their experience is not yours.
8. Sometimes, you might get a sense of something that invites you to cross over and to see that reality. You can't live it - you can't ever walk through the other door - that's impossible. But you can understand it's shape and contours, and you can do that by listening.
9. And when you hear, and see that version you may want to make things fairer, and equal. I hope you do. Perhaps one day we might really be able to all walk through the same door together, but until then, I'll try to make damn sure the building is identical. /end
