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The feud for gender equality has been a continuous and ardent battle for decades, and it continues to be played out in the most public space there are the headliners on news stories. My statement does not highlight the matter and volume in which women are receiving coverage versus men, in every domain – whether sports, business, or most recently politics – but how the media portrays the roles and wins of these women as woman CEO.

 

Companies, organizations, and entities promote news as it occurs, as it should be. These include new products, the appointment of talent, socially responsible conscious efforts, and so on. However, maybe the narrative is in dire need of an alteration presently. Maybe, the ‘exotic existence of the female CEO’ does not warrant the importance it usually receives.

 

The real story here is that every industry needs an increasing number of female positions in leadership roles, whether it is the Government, Fortune 500 entities, PR & Media organizations, or even the news. When a press release showcases the promotion specifically of a ‘Female CEO’, it essentially alienates the woman to a position of ‘gender’ and negates her leadership skills based on her talent or her purpose. Ever since the first words of the story come to light, the ‘paragon female’ becomes pigeonholed.

 

A simple Google search will allow you to assess the rife nature of the media with the nomenclature of ‘the first woman’.

 

A few examples of stories published:

United Spirits appoints its first woman CEO

USL to get first woman CEO in Hina Nagarajan

GM Announces First Female CEO – Mary Barra

 

When does the novelty cape come off? Why should gender be the most important fixation of every announcement?

To make this equality a norm, we must stop treating the mere identities of individuals as news.

In the industry of Public Relations, for instance, the number of women within the industry supersedes the number of men. Women dominated 60-80% of the domain, however, they still occupy a measly one in five senior positions. Mid-level women are essentially the force behind the messaging which snakes itself into the media. A number of women in senior-level positions concur that it is about the holistic aspect of ‘leadership’, not just promoting gender.

A famous quote by Claudia Brind-Woody, VP and Managing Director of IBM states, “Inclusivity means not ‘just we’re allowed to be there,’ but we are valued. I’ve always said: smart teams will do amazing things, but truly diverse teams will do impossible things.”

Our news and media agencies are our gatekeepers, our communicators sharing messaging with the masses. A report generated in 2019 by Women’s Media Center showcased that women trail in the newsroom stature, across all major online, broadcast, and print portals. When it comes solely to bylines, men receive 63% of them when handed out, while women receive only an average of 37%.

When looking at the media landscape today, it occasionally seems as though the world should be impressed that a woman, being a woman, could achieve such a feat. Women CEO has capabilities surpassing most others; hence it should never be breaking news that they are excellent communicators, often adding diplomacy and patience in lacking areas.

Instead of solely covering and celebrating one-off wins for women, the stories should cover the lack of diversity in industries. During the President and Vice President election of the United States. As well, the focus was more on the gender of Kamala Harris instead of her platform. And what she stands for. Identity politics plays a major role here, and as PR professionals we can hope for it. And it makes a change towards a holistic focus, which would 80 out of 100 times make for a great story.