Women are not “Empowered”

Claiming women are empowered makes what should be ordinary into unusual

Credit: CoWomen from Pexels

Women are frequently portrayed as empowered when we act in a way that someone considers outside the norm for our sex. Hey, three out of the ten new partners at a law firm are women this year? Those ladies are empowered. She ran for office? Clearly empowered. She landed a job as a programmer in a male-dominated tech company in Silicon Valley? Wow, she’s so empowered. Just now I received an email, claiming that “Empowered women take the lead in art, film & performances this week at the Museum!” Wow! Women directors! In art! Who would have thought it possible in 1953… err…. 2019?!

I hate the word “empowered” most especially when it is used to describe a woman’s role or actions in a “male dominated” field. To empower someone is to “make someone stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and claiming their rights.” Or, alternatively, it is defined as “giving someone the authority or power to do something.”

Excuse me? If women must be “made stronger” or “given the authority” to perform equally in a particular industry or role, who, precisely, do we expect is controlling that power to our performance in the first place? And more importantly, isn’t it more important to remove (and celebrate the removal of) the roadblocks to women’s rights and abilities to perform at equal levels in a particular industry, rather than focusing on the few who manage to succeed in the current status quo as models for “empowerment” in a male-dominated field?

The idea of “empowering” women is rooted in forcing women (and yes, BIPOCs too) to claim their right to control their own life; forcing women to stand up and say we’re here and we exist and we aren’t going away. When we make controlling our own destiny an exalted feat, claiming that those few who succeed are somehow empowered in a way that others are not (or that implies we’ve been lifted up above the patriarchy by suddenly just being confident or promoted from below), what does that do for everyone else still struggling to make it through the barriers placed in front of their success? Is that what is meant by “empowerment” — the right to run our own lives? To have authority over our own authentic selves? Is this the coveted empowerment we refer to when the media and society proclaim…