How We Can Finally Achieve Gender Equality

My Latest Op-Ed on Equality

           I'm taking a break from my book to post my latest article on gender equality.                   It is critical to post this now because it covers the unfortunate impact that our current pandemic has had on the #MeToo movement.

                                                      Should Auld "Achievements" Be Forgot

           Does everyone remember the #MeToo movement? It does seem so long ago now.

           We have yet to see one of the hidden casualties of the awful COVID-19 pandemic, which is the obscurity of topical issues that affect everyone's workplace survival, particularly women. Which is why I am calling on major news organizations to publish critical reminders of how far we have come in advancing gender equality, and how much further we still need to go.

            My concern here is the lack of recent attention on #MeToo priorities, and equality may experience a severe setback when it comes time to board the subway again. We all know how news cycles work to penetrate our membranes, and this last cycle has been a real whopper. While conceding that death tolls and economic hardship deserve our utmost attention, we also need to uphold the strong accomplishments of #MeToo to date.

           Doesn't the unfortunate attrition of so many blue-collar workers also ring death knells for their critical training on harassment prevention? Can white-collar male workers still readily recall the penalties handed down to Harvey Weinstein now that they are habituated to remote connectivity? Our "new normal" has become so firmly entrenched that the anticipated return to office and factory life will mandate a new set of adjustments, and the unfortunate byproduct may be stagnant corporate reform.

           So then, after a long layover, how can we rest assured that the bigwigs will continue to fight promotion discrimination while encouraging workplace diversity? Can the necessary corporate reform that evolved from #MeToo still be effective now that fiscal priorities have shifted?

           On a more tangible level, let's investigate the largest blemish on gender equality, which is sexual harassment. Long periods of isolation such as this serve to exacerbate man's thirst for power, and working women may now be more subject to standing in harm's way. How can we best remind corporate America that an employee's dignity carries more weight than quarterly revenue, at a time when the "bottom line" will carry more significance than since the Great Depression?

           My proposed solution has several layers but is doable, even as uncertainty awaits us in other areas:

• Preparedness needs assistance in the form of attention, so encourage our media outlets to spend some more time on equality issues, even long before the nation reopens. One suggestion, as part of a postmortem (hopefully) on the Coronavirus, is to project what its eternal impact on equality may turn out to be.

• On our first workday back from telecommuting, let's post the bold legalese of our respective corporate reform policies on our bulletin boards as plain reminders of our achievements to date for all to see, and that we have not forgotten about the cause.

• As always, alert our Congressional reps that much new legislation is still needed here, as with other pressing global concerns as climate changing and gun control. A difficult ask in this unprecedented time of prioritization, I assure you, but we can always try.

           And try we must. One thing we have all painfully learned from COVID-19 is that mistakes from the past do not always serve to better equip us for our next battle. I hope that is not the case for gender equality, so let us please not lose sight of our goals.