The Pressure of Representing all Women

Written by Kate Lenny

Being a woman in a male-dominated space can often mean being defined by the women who came before you.

Humans naturally look for patterns, and when the sample size is so small, individuals inadvertently become representative of entire groups of people.

The qualities, strengths and weaknesses of other women in the industry can form expectations for every woman.

Some common stereotypes within aviation are that women are better at multitasking, they struggle with heavy control forces, and that they’re favoured for promotions.

Whether the stereotype is good or bad, being singled out in a group and told that you should excel or struggle with something creates unnecessary pressure and expectation.

The Burden of Representation

With this understanding comes the realisation that your actions will also be held to this same standard. That your failures will become the failures of all women in the industry. This is a phenomenon called “The Burden of Representation”.

Understanding this phenomenon can be helpful to cope with and overcome the pressure associated with it. This is not an isolated experience, but something that many minority groups face.

This phenomenon can also hurt relationships between women within male dominated industries. When one woman makes a bad decision or fails at something, she is “making all women look bad”. This can create anger and resentment from other women.

But your mistakes do not define you, nor do they define other women. 

People's perceptions and expectations cannot change talent, drive and hard work. These are yours.

By being in the industry, you’re increasing that sample size; you’re paving the way for other women to make mistakes and to succeed. And this is something to be proud of.

Unloading the Burden

Recognising and understanding the burden of representation is the first step; it then must be challenged.

The next time you hear a generalising statement, question it. Ask why this person thinks this. Often this is from personal experience, reinforced by anecdotes from their peers, which manifests into these generalisations.

When we challenge these stereotypes, ask people to step back from their statement and analyse it, the stereotypes often hold very little substance or truth.

However, the onus must not be put upon women to constantly challenge these preconceptions but instead on individuals to examine their own beliefs, and to understand that sweeping generalisations, positive or negative, are not helpful. This needs to be promoted from the top down.

We need to let women be individuals, to fail at one thing and to ace another, to be mediocre and to be brilliant. To let minorities be defined by their own achievements.

By addressing these stereotypes, we can shift this narrative from representation as a burden to representation as an opportunity to show the varied complexities of human beings, to let women feel proud to represent all women.