Subtle Discrimination

They’re everywhere: subtle things that, in a quiet, seemingly innocuous way, undermine women. There are even signs of subtle discrimination on the streets – bright orange signs that blare “Men… Men… Men… Working.” Diane Badger of the City of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management tells me I’m the only one who has complained about these signs locally. “But I think about it,” Badger admits. “Every time I pass one of those signs, I think about it.” How many of us think about all those little things we experience every day that say “You need not apply”? Or “You’re invisible”? Or “You’re not part of this”? The owner of a city-hired construction company who buys those “Men Working” signs and has crews post them happens to be a woman! She told me, “I don’t worry about that, Cynthia. I worry about bigger things, like making payroll. I worry about the war.”

I, too, worry about the war. As a business owner, I also worry about payroll. But I also worry about signs – about all the little signs we get every single day that whisper, “You’re less than…” It’s the subtle things that are most pernicious, because nobody stands up and says, “Wait. That’s wrong.”

I think about women looking for jobs and the little girls in the backseats of passing cars who see that men work but wonder, What about women? It’s a little thing. Or is it? How big are all these little things when added one upon another, upon another? Does this contribute to the pay gap? Does this affect the way we see each other, the way we see ourselves?

You betcha.

When we look the other way and decide not to worry or even think about it – and not do anything – that’s complicity. In tolerating an injustice, we allow it to continue. We make it OK.

“So what?” you say. But if the sign said “Christians Working” or “Whites Working,” we wouldn’t put up with it. It would be the lead story on your evening news. But the fact is – today, in the 21st century – it is still acceptable to exclude women.

A little digging revealed that in 1978, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices prohibited the words “Men” and “Flagman” on signs, requiring that they be replaced with “Workers” and “Flagger.” In 2003, the manual’s list of prohibited words was removed, despite the fact that more than 4 percent of highway workers are now women, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Iowa’s Department of Transportation now prohibits all gender-specific signs, but Atlanta needed a shove in the right direction.

And it worked! Joe Basista, commissioner of the Atlanta Department of Public Works, agreed “to take immediate measures to phase out any gender-specific signs by crews and contractors performing work for the city,” and to “integrate this requirement into the permitting process to ensure compliance by all others working in the city’s right of way.”

Wouldn’t it be great if we each gave ourselves the gift of speaking up when something is troubling? If you feel bad about it – whether it’s a smart-aleck comment from a co-worker or someone at home, or a sign on the road – your gut is asking you not to ignore it. It’s possible to create the life we want, but only when we identify it and then take action to change it. The next time you see a sign that says “You are less than…,” what will you do? Will you say something? Or will you quietly go about your business?

By Cynthia Good