The list of things that have led women to be labelled “difficult” is far too long to list here… Instead of telling women to “be less difficult” or asking women to simply accept negative labels as the price to pay for being smart, assertive or speaking out against systemic problems, it’s time to rephrase how we identify smart, assertive women. So many of the traits that men get praised for are seen as deficits in women, in too many places, throughout history and around the world – while so often people (especially men) are praised for being aggressive and bullying (behaviours that nobody should be doing). Let’s put an end to that! And, in the interim, as women, all we can do is embrace the label as a sign that we are probably doing something right. To be clear, this doesn’t mean that all behaviour (regardless of gender) is good when others say it’s difficult – just that women tend to be over-labelled as difficult for anything that is not completely passive…😀
Women, what is your craziest/best/most frustrating story of being called “difficult” for being, smart, assertive, good at your job, working to change systems or anything else? Share your stories below, in the comments. 😀
