internalized misogyny or delusion?

A few months ago my class had the absolute "pleasure" of sitting in front of 5 panelists to ask our questions about museum management. This was the last lecture, of one of the least beneficial mandatory courses I have ever taken. We were not told who the panelists were going to be, and no one knew that they had to prepare questions beforehand. The real kicker is that even the panelists did not know who they were speaking to, a majority of Museum Studies Masters students.

This panel session occurred around the beginning of this blog. Therefore I asked the question, directed at the 3 female panelists, "Do you have any challenges as women in positions of management, in institutions that still are predominantly run by men?" I thought this was a very valid question and expected the three women to tell great, relatable, interesting, and in-depth stories about times they might have felt challenged because they were women, especially since they had entered into the field at least 20 years prior.

However I did not get the answer I was expecting in the slightest, which not only shocked me, but also shocked the majority of my female peers. One woman (a previous lecturer in this course - that basically said our master's were useless *I won't get into that now) was somewhat more insightful. She answered that yes she has faced challenges, but not out of the ordinary for any other women working in positions of management alongside men, the heritage and arts sector has the same everyday sexism that other places do. However the other two women disagreed and said that they had no challenges as women, which was the surprising thing to me.

As a profile, each of these women were well over the age of 35, probably even well over the age of 45 (I'm not great at guessing ages), however clearly a different generation than my own. As well these women were white (most likely still unaware of their full white privilege - but I won't sell them that short - yet at least). This generation is important and key to why I believe that this was their answer to my question.

Their age as well as their skin tone do play into their obvious acceptance of their place within previous societal norms, such as men being in powers of position and the obvious hurdles women have had to face to overcome this precedency.

I am not saying that their answers aren't valid, however I find it very surprising that they had NO obstacles based on their gender within positions of power. This is part of a larger problem in our society, from possible internalized misogyny, internalized oppression, and dare I say it 'delusion.' (You can look up these terms if you do not already know them**). In terms of internalized oppression I would have liked to ask these women if they felt like they need to be more like 'men' to be able to situate themselves within management, such as the "Boss Ass Bitch" approach, wear masculine suits, or possibly even hiding their femininity. This persona is also quite familiar within politics (see Hillary Clinton's Boss persona, versus her mother persona and get back to me).

These systems within our patriarchal society, are what is prolonging it. I am all for the destruction of the patriarchy of course, however if older generations (such as these women) don't recognize that everyday sexism still occurs, then they cannot help to change it so that future generations (men and women alike) don't have to feel oppressed or less than they are based on societal black and white rules of femininity and masculinity.

This is also the most dangerous, because it is so subconscious in practice that many do not realize there should be anything different, or that basic treatment and respect from peers or superiors shouldn't come as a shock.

This question that I posed also started quite the watershed of events, more hard hitting questions began, more questions were not being answered to their fullest potential, panelists literally called my classmate 'delusional' (I'm not kidding, one male panelist literally said to my female classmate - you are delusional). This set everything off, especially for the female students in my class, and especially within our chat on Facebook. Everyone was heated and frustrated, probably long overdue from the entire class.

I then asked another question, this time aimed at all of the panelists: "Do you recognize the generational divide on what is required for this generation versus your generation when applying for a job in this field?"

Side note: The other two panelists were men, white men, I might add, and were well over 60.

All of them answered similarly, another shocking result as well...

They said that yes there is a divide, however in their generation you had to have so many more degrees and qualifications for higher positions than you do today....

Which is COMPLETELY THE OPPOSITE of reality, every job I have seen in this field today, or be that any area of the arts/humanities field, you need at least a masters to get any type of position, even if it is an entry level job. It might not say so directly in the application, however it still is an underlying requirement. This was also agreed upon by my entire class.

This example just shows how much there is a generational gap, not only on issues of employment and qualifications, but also on the gender divide still present in our society. These men and women need to face current reality, and get out of the past, face the facts as you would say or at least reflect on any specific bias they might have.

I would like to pose the question back to them, similarly to the statement made: "Are you delusional?"

As well I would like all of those reading to reflect on any situation around them, does it seem like the norm... and is the norm okay?

As always... see ya later gals!