Get radical 2011 style

No, you don’t need to burn your bra, claim that you don’t need a man, or pump your fist in the air. The culture that necessitated those actions is long gone. In fact, it is so far gone that younger women don’t even understand it anymore. Behavior like that seems quaint and funny, like rotary dial telephones or cars with hand cranks. It’s 2011; we have much better models and don’t need those old things now. Women have made such enormous advances that some people don’t believe gender discrimination even exits. This is a compliment. The women who pumped their fists have torn down most of the outward barriers to women’s equality with men. They certainly made it possible for me to be a stock broker and I am grateful.

World Rulers

The problem is that men have dug in at their last position of defense and they are going to fight for that position with all that they are worth. What is the position they’re defending? It is their privileged social status.  “Urgg! you say, not that again.” Stay with me here.

In spite of all the gains women have made in most areas there is no question that men still rule the world. All you have to do is look who runs Wall Street (money) and who runs Washington (power) and you know that they do. There is no serious argument against that fact. You personally may not want to get into those games for the pure pleasure of it like men, but there are millions of women do. Moreover, those women are educated and qualified and there is no serious argument against that fact either.

Social Status

Here is the rub. Women have been banging on the doors of  Wall Street for three decades. There are a small percentage of women who succeed individually, it is true. Usually they have had some type of god-father or male protector who made sure other males didn’t run them out of the business or … they have stories like mine. However, for most women who have tried, working in the financial services industry in line positions found it was untenable.

The alleged Herculean efforts Wall Street firms have made to hire and keep women in their ranks have not worked. Their excuses are too detailed for this post, but basically, they all boil down to men’s defense of their privileged social position. Nothing is going to happen in these overwhelmingly male dominated areas until we get radical 2011 style.

Take Action

Now it is time we applied Title IX-like mentally to Wall Street firms by putting the onus on them to prove to us, the tax payers, that they don’t discriminate. Proof is 35% of senior positions being held by women.  And if they refuse, cities should not do business with them anymore. We can find smaller firms to bring our cities municipal bonds to market. Ladies, demand that your city council put their investment banking firms on notice or you’ll vote the city council out of office and put someone else in their seats who will.

Tameron Keyes is the author of No Backing Down, My Story of Suing One of The Largest Investment Firms in the World and Winning. She was a stock broker in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills for fourteen years. She now advocates for women’s equal status in the financial services industry. Follow Tameron on Twitter – @TameronNBD or visit her Facebook page – No Backing Down.

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