Why do we criticise our flaws before admiring our strengths?

Why do we fail to negotiate and advocate for our worth?

Why do we downplay our accomplishments?

Why do we stay silent when we know the answer?

Why do we feel shame expressing our needs and boundaries?

And why is it that no matter how hard we work, how qualified we are, or how successful we become, we still never seem to be valued as much as the man next to us, even, or especially, if he is less qualified?

Women today are more ambitious and educated than ever. In the US, women now hold 60% of all undergraduate and graduate degrees and are starting businesses at five times the national average. Globally, women account for 47% of the workforce and control more than $31 trillion in annual spending. On the surface, women now have almost all the same opportunities as men: the ability to own property, open bank accounts, start businesses, sit on boards, and lead corporations options that weren’t even conceivable just a few decades ago. But despite these strides, despite public lip service paid to female empowerment initiatives, women continue to get paid less, promoted less, and invested in less than our male counterparts, while still being expected to do more… why?

Because we have yet to address the insidious root of the problem: Good Girl Brainwashing.

Good Girl Brainwashing is a set of subconscious messages perpetuated by society and media that train women to stay silent, small, and subordinate. It teaches us that in order to be accepted by the status quo, we must shrink ourselves for the sake of others, to ask permission before taking up space, and to seek validation before taking action. We learn to doubt our dreams and question the validity of even having them in the first place.

“For too long I was a victim of ‘good girl brainwashing’ – and I bet you have been, too”