“This is how the business of feminism stays middle class and white in practice. How conversations about optimizing your ‘career, health, and love life’ are reserved for certain women and decidedly not others.” - Koa Beck, White Feminism

In the book White Feminism, author Koa Beck discusses the “Lean In” movement [1]. For those who haven’t heard of it, “Lean In” comes from a book by Sheryl Sandberg, which claims women are behind men in the corporate workplace because we don’t “lean in” enough, taking up space and demanding our equal due. Women who have made it high in the corporate ladder, such as Sandberg herself as COO of Meta, are held aloft as success stories for buckling down and leaning in. Women CEOs, women billionaires, women politicians, are all lauded as indications that feminism has been successful and the gaps are closing. This same rhetoric happens with other marginalized groups, as well, such as the discussion of the US entering a “post-racial society” with the election of Barack Obama to the presidency [2].

The problem with raising up these individual corporate successes and doubling-down on calls to “lean in” is that it completely ignores the underlying the systemic and societal problems, placing the onus of success entirely on the shoulders of the individual. However, study after study show that this is not the case. For example, even women who make it into the corporate world face widespread, systemic sexism. A study by the Harvard Business Review shows that women ask for raises just as often as men (”leaning in” just as much as men), but are only 75% as likely to be granted those raises [3]. And this still doesn’t encompass the much deeper societal problems, which might exclude someone from corporate America in the first place. For example, US school districts that primarily serve students of color receive 16% less funding than districts primarily serving white students [4]. This lack of funding makes for a less robust and supportive schooling experience, in turn preventing students from getting into universities and getting the degrees now required for white-collar jobs. Universities themselves are an enormous financial barrier many cannot overcome.

Corporate feminism will not lessen oppression, it will only help raise a select few higher in the capitalist hierarchy.

References

1. Beck, K. (2021). White feminism: From the suffragettes to influencers and who they leave behind.
2. Taylor, K. (2017). Barack Obama’s original sin: America’s post-racial illusion. The Guardian.
3. Artz, B. (2018). Research: Women Ask for Raises as Often as Men, but Are Less Likely to Get Them. Harvard Business Review.
4. EdTrust. (2022). School Districts That Serve Students of Color Receive Significantly Less Funding. EdTrust.