Ep 032: Why we need to amplify women's voices

with show host Rachael Jansen

I was scrolling on Medium recently, and choosing the categories I wanted to subscribe to.

I scrolled, and scrolled, from one category to the next and very quickly noticed something: most of the contributors in the categories I was interested in were male.

I scrolled more, went back to some other categories, paying more attention, and this question popped into my head: Where were all the women’s voices?

Only in the family category was there a substantial number of female writers listed, and I thought: “Is that the best we can do? Is that the only issue in which women can contribute to the conversation?”

Of course not – and it sparked in me a rant that I’m sharing with you here on the show.

Amplifying women’s voices – encouraging women to contribute to the conversation – is vitally important in a world that’s out of balance.

We’re used to hearing men’s opinions and thoughts – because of gender stereotypes, men have largely been the decision-makers, leaders and authority figures in our world.

Yet their ideas and thoughts are only half a conversation.

Women have different ideas, different approaches, and BOTH are necessary. With both, you can find new solutions, compromise and positive change.

Until now, women haven’t had as large an opportunity to contribute to conversations because they haven’t been in the boardrooms, in the offices, in control or leading.

That is changing, and with the internet, we now have the most amazing opportunity to share our thoughts and balance conversations on any topic or issue we feel strongly about.

So it’s not anti-men – it’s pro balance because without the other side, the conversations are skewed and directions don’t change.

Our society needs women to contribute their thoughts and ideas to balance views. We need that more than ever as we can now see in world events, and we can start doing that from our keyboard, on our laptop at our kitchen bench.

The most profound changes in our society don’t happen because of someone sitting in a political office or high-rise building somewhere. They happen because of the struggles and triumphs of people in everyday life, who speak up and demand that things change. They share experiences and make suggestions, they lead by example, lead from the grassroots and they are the ones to facilitate and create positive change for other people.

Is that you?

You have the opportunity to contribute to a conversation, to make suggestions, share ideas and to be a voice that is desperately needed to balance our society. To suggest a different approach, to suggest different thoughts, to balance out the other end of the scale.