I really enjoyed our second plenary speaker, Wendy Cai-Lee. She was extremely inspirational, exceptionally wise, and an excellent orator. When I originally heard that our speaker was going to be a businesswoman, my interest was not piqued. I am not majoring in business and know nothing about the subject, thus I could not foresee just how meaningful Wendy’s speech was going to be for me.Â
As a child who grew up with a stay-at home mom, I find myself very thankful for the extensive amount of time I was able to spend with her and am happy that she was always there to support me whenever I needed her help, love, and guidance. This, however, is not what I want to do with my life. I strive for both a successful, rewarding career and a large, loving family. I do not think that a woman should ever have to choose between one or the other. I have never had a role model to look up to in this respect because my mom and her sister are both stay-at-home mothers. Wendy Cai-Lee provided me with a woman leader who I could strive to emulate, regardless of our differing chosen career fields.
I find the issues that Wendy Cai-Lee spoke about regarding women in a male-dominated profession very interesting, particularly her confession that she has experienced quite a few issues with women in the workplace. I can attest to the unfortunate fact that, many times, women are the ones who perpetuate harmful, gender-biased stereotypes. I used to work as a cart-puller at a supermarket and more often than not, whenever I received a hurtful and ridiculous comment, such as, “women should not be doing a job like this” or “you should be inside, not out here doing physical work,” the perpetrator would be a woman. Most, but not all, of the comments coming from men were much more supportive, encouraging, and constructive. It is very interesting that Wendy, a woman with an extremely developed career, has experienced some of the same negative encounters with women.Â
Finally, I believe that Wendy Cai-Lee’s supportive marriage is an incredibly important step in the integration of women in the workplace as true equals to their male counterparts. Because Wendy’s husband took on fatherhood in the true sense and equally split the work with his wife, both him and Wendy were able to balance their family and their careers. Wendy’s relationship gave me hope that regardless of whom you are married to or whether you are married at all, if you have a great support system, the sky is the limit (just watch out for that glass ceiling).Â
