By Jean Godden
When I was growing up reading comics like Spider-Man and Wonder Woman, they shushed us and said that children should be seen and not heard. Today there's a twist on that old saying. Women -- many of them wonderful -- are struggling with a gender version of "seen not heard."
We are seeing rooms, filled with our countrymen -- overwhelmingly white men -- trying to silence, interrupt or ignore women. Examples of the silencing of women abound.
The phenomenon became most glaring during Donald Trump's campaign. Candidate Trump singled out women for mockery and ridicule. There is a long list of those he tried to disparage. Prominent among them: Carly Fiorina, Megan Kelly, Heidi Cruz, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Senator Elizabeth Warren and his election opponent Hillary Clinton.
Trump went out of his way to scorn women's words, slamming their intelligence, skills, stamina and even their physical attributes. He seemed preoccupied with bodily fluids, an obsession that ought to be grist for a psychological study. Does he have unresolved mother issues?
What passed as operating procedure for Donald Trump apparently has served as a permission slip for some of his fellow countrymen. Other prominent actors have adopted putdowns of women as a standard template.
In February, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gaveled down Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren during a confirmation hearing for Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He forced a Senate vote silencing Warren when she tried to read a letter written by Civil Rights Leader Coretta Scott King. (King had opposed Session's appointment to a federal judgeship, based on his sorry civil rights record.) Later McDonnell allowed two of Warren's male colleagues to read from that same letter.
The outrages continue. During Senate hearings in June, California Sen. Kamala Harris was interrupted twice, by her male colleagues. Senators John McCain and Richard Burr teamed up to silence Harris. When Harris asked why Attorney General Jeff Sessions had withheld details of conversations with President Trump, she was hushed and scolded. Later she was chastised during questioning of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, asking about his support for Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Afterwards she was described as "hysterical."
What passes for unfair treatment of women in politics and in the hallowed walls of Congress has been mirrored at tech companies and Fortune 500 businesses. Sociological studies make it clear that being interrupted, talked over or shut down is nearly a universal experience for women when they are outnumbered by men.
One recent incident was reported by publisher Arianna Huffington, an Uber board member. After she urged the board to increase the number of women, Uber director David Bonderman ridiculed Huffington's proposal. He protested that adding another woman would only lead to "more talking." Adverse reaction to his sexist remarks finally led to Bonderman's resignation.
Even in companies without notorious "bro"-cultures, women have had to struggle to feel heard. They have had to fight for advancement. Almost every woman who has any degree of power knows how it feels to experience gender imbalances, to endure mansplaining and the feeling of marginalization.
Widespread awareness of this unfair playing field is fueling the success of the "Wonder Woman," the movie. Diana Prince (played by Gal Gadot) is the female superhero that we have long awaited. Anytime we see women in powerful roles onscreen it gives us a lift and an incentive to set things right in the world of reality.
Next time we hear of women being shushed, we should unite and insist on hearing what is being suppressed. We should join those who celebrated Elizabeth Warren's example. Mitch McConnell's unwitting words -- "Nevertheless she persisted" -- have become a rallying cry.
We should think back to childhood days of "being seen and not heard." We must support those who want to increase women's influence in business, tech and politics. Like the fictional hero Wonder Woman, there are strong women today working to counter the silencing. We want them to bat down double standards with their silver bracelets, persist and say: "Step back bros and let me finish."
