The sisterhood blogging award:

How wonderful to be virtually connected to other females-if only was so in the workplace

In 2006, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright had some very strong words about sisterhood. She noted “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”  Ouch.   Yet, many would agree a bit with that sentiment. Women are still hitting many glass ceilings in their respective workplaces and you still hear about female leaders not providing a lending hand or a metaphorical life jacket to women coming up in the ranks below. This is not old news. Popular culture is filled with skits, images and tweets about the state of female bonds in the workplace.  Basically, the overall portrayal is that of one large cat fight.  Sarah Allen in the Peach Keeper noted:

“We’re connected, as women. It’s like a spiderweb. If one part of that web vibrates, if there’s trouble, we all know it, but most of the time we’re just too scared, or selfish, or insecure to help. But if we don’t help each other, who will?”

But is that true? Just because we are female we are to automatically sympathize with one another? No, probably not. However, it also does not mean that we should automatically see each other as competition.  I have had some great older female mentors that have looked out for me in some past workplaces. I owe much to one in particular that helped me get on my path because we had a shared love of books and both appreciated their sanctity.  I have also had some supposed female mentors, within my age range (add maybe 5-8 years older than me) that were spiteful and not helpful.  The female work place relationship is quite fickle.

I believe in mentorship and have acted in that vein for the majority of people that have worked for me –be it female or male. I believe in providing guidance and then setting people free to learn and err on their own.  I have had success in those mentoring relationships. However, I have had three such relationships with females that quite didn’t go the way I had expected. I give people opportunities and I cheer them on. It is extremely disappointing to me when they go on to give up.  I will admit that I get a little more bothered when women give up.  I take it as a personal failure on my part. I suppose this feeling may be part of that sense of feeling interconnected in some network and when one gives up that weight is transferred across that networked web.   I know I shouldn’t be so disappointed and am working on that. At least though I am invested in the success of others and can only hope that I role model that enough to be passed on.

What I have found interesting is that in my experience thus far, I have found fellow female bloggers to be very supportive.  Any thoughts or hypotheses on this, I’d welcome.
In that vein, I was nominated for a Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award by Nicci Attfield whose blog I love reading. Thus, I am very humbled to be nominated by her. She is quite thoughtful in her posts discussing issues around social change and justice. Her comments on my blogs are also quite insightful and I have learned much from her. In her nomination she posed the following questions:

Getting to know me:

1. Let’s start with, do you drink coffee or tea and why?

• Coffee, coffee, coffee. Caffeine junkie, am I.

2. What’s your favorite color and why?

• Pink. I like to call it my New York Power Girl Pink Sensation.

3. What ambitions you seek in this world?

• To do what is right, leave a legacy and love those in my life

4. What inspires you to blog?

• There is an actual physical need to blog and ventilate

5. How do you select topics to blog upon?

• Things that have raised passion or ire in me that day.

6. Do you think blogging as social media is constructive for engaging with people?

• Absolutely. It provides a voice for those not necessarily connected to the elite forms of media.

7. Have you received solidarity and support for writing what you write?

• Absolutely. I have felt much support in the blogosphere and am quite grateful.

8. When faced with opposition, what’s your reaction?

• Try even harder. Many of my blog posts touch upon that tenacity.

9. Any humanitarian campaigns which you support/or would love to support?

• I work in the HIV/AIDS field and touch upon many other issues of social justice. If I could work in a new area it would be that of the rights of the girl-child

10. What’s your future calling?

• I think I will be a photo journalist.

There you have it! Now, it’s time to present my nominees and my questions for them which they will answer in their own post where they will also nominate 7 others and pose their own questions to them.

Insidethelifeofmoi

KSFINBLOG

Ana Linden

krystalvation

fille pompette

that montreal girl

Lisa Dorenfest

Granonine

Kay-leigh bain

traversing lines

I would actually nominate more but there is a limit I believe. Plus, the ones I would nominate here I have already nominated. Thus, if I have already nominated you please take this also as a nomination for you. As I have felt great kinship with you all.

1. What is your favorite place you have traveled to?
2. How do you feel about cheese?
3. Cat or dog?
4. Which is the most useful social media tool?
5. Hopes for the coming year?
6. Feedback: great way to learn or waste of time?
7. Which current news story (that isn’t really news) are you most tired of hearing about?
8. What’s the best thing to do on a rainy day?
9. What truth do you seek?
10. Apple or PC? If can’t decide apple or orange?