Introduction
March is Women’s History Month. Why do women need their own history month? Because history has always been written by men.
Women & TAC
Raging through the Glass Ceiling
by Megan Lavell, TAC Executive Director
I
I am a member of our local Rotary club. Rotary is an international service organization that was founded in 1905. Women were finally admitted in 1989. They were admitted to our local club two years after that.
I was in first grade when women were finally allowed in the service club of which I would become the president 24 years later. Two of the three women who broke that glass ceiling are still active in our club.
“Rotary is an international service organization that was founded in 1905. Women were finally admitted in 1989.”
As a member of the Sergeant at Arms committee, it is my job to spend about five minutes at the meetings fining members in a humorous, fun, good-natured way as a small weekly club fundraiser. The money goes toward service projects, so members don’t usually mind paying the $3 every Monday.
I am the sergeant this month. And this is Women’s History Month. That means that once a week, I get up in front of about 50 business leaders, professionals, and community members and sharpen my axe against their wallets and psyches for the causes of equity and social justice. To argue with the sergeant would not only mean higher fines for the day, but a public admission in front of your peers that you are against the cause the sergeant is pushing. In my case: equity.
After the first agenda-pushing feminist tirade, I asked a close friend (who is also in the club) how far she thought I could take it. Her response was simply, “Gloves off.”
After the second meeting, where I openly declared myself a “raging feminist,” I commented to the club president and president-elect (both women) that I was afraid I may be making some club members mad with my comments. They said I’m fine, as long as I keep doing it with a smile on my face.
And isn’t that the way it goes in this time of post-modern feminism, and post-modern sexism? Make sure you’re fighting the good fight, but do it in a way that’s palatable so they keep letting you sit at the table.
“Make sure you’re fighting the good fight, but do it in a way that’s palatable so they keep letting you sit at the table.”
II
At the Thornapple Arts Council, we have constructed our own table. It is filled mostly with women. That was not by design; those just happen to be the people most committed to our vision with the capacity to lead and follow and work with their whole hearts for the cause. It’s also possible that the whole energy of our organization has morphed into something like, “Everyone belongs here, and if you don’t think so, this isn’t the table for you.” (Yes, I see the irony there. I hope you do, too.)
The Thornapple Arts Council has a habit of taking a chance on young women who have vision, even when they lack experience. The board at the time hired me to be their part-time executive director at 25. We hired Kathleen when she was 21. She came back again at 27. We hired Shelby at 23.
There is an argument to be made that TAC’s schedule, flexibility, compensation, and requirements attract a certain demographic of the population. I am not blind to this fact. However, I still believe whole-heartedly that the organization has shown its commitment to hiring people for where they are going more than where they have been. And having been given the gift of that vote of confidence in my youth, I feel dedicated to extend it to others in theirs. It doesn’t make sense to sneak through a shattered glass ceiling just to help reconstruct it as a floor.
All of these thoughts started percolating as mere fodder for my time as sergeant just as Kathleen capitalized on International Women’s Day with a celebration of our small-but-mighty staff on social media. The convergence of the two thought processes reminded me of the importance of celebrating the women who have impacted our lives, whether they came before or after us; whether we know them intimately or from a distance; whether we are in relationship with them or they inspire us across time and space.
So it’s Women’s History Month. I am deeply, profoundly, eternally grateful for the women who have shaped my life – everyone from my grandmother, mother, and sister; to my brave and groundbreaking colleagues; to my close friends who see and understand me. In celebration of this month, I will continue to show up; use my voice (because not everyone can); use my platform (because it is a sacred privilege not everyone has); and be a small-but-irritating shard of glass ceiling in the side of inequity.
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Well done. So glad to see the old hometown moving into the 21st century. 🙂