SALON TALKS

Gen X women need to thank millennials for progress

Women in their 20s and 30s who lean into feminism and stand up to sexism are reshaping the workplace

By Mary Elizabeth Williams

Senior Writer

Published November 16, 2017 3:00PM (EST)

 (Getty/shapecharge)
(Getty/shapecharge)

Traditional wisdom has it that a woman can either choose to be on a career track or the nauseatingly named "mommy track." She can focus on her ambitions when she's young and assume her fertility is a ticking time bomb, or she can have kids early and derail all her aspirations. And working mothers who are supposedly having it all are distracted and underproductive. Yeah, right.

As journalist, entrepreneur and single mother of two Sarah Lacy puts it in her new book, "A Uterus Is a Feature, Not a Bug," mothers bring a unique skill set to the workforce, including conflict resolution, time management and a refined ability to multitask.

In a recent conversation for "Salon Talks," Lacy reflected on how attitudes — and HR policies — are finally beginning to shift. She gave credit to millennial women for leading the charge. "Women are standing together in a way that I've never seen . . . I think it has changed everything."

Lacy, the CEO and founder of Pando.com, says she doesn't know "a single woman who's raised money in Silicon Valley and not been hit on or propositioned as part of that process." Watch the video above to find out why the actions of millennial women are helping change some of the sexism and abuse "normalized" in the workplace by Gen X women.

And, watch our full "Salon Talks" conversation on Facebook to hear why moms make better employees.

Tune into SalonTV's live shows, "Salon Talks" and "Salon Stage," daily at noon ET / 9 a.m. PT and 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT, streaming live on Salon and on Facebook.


By Mary Elizabeth Williams

Mary Elizabeth Williams is a senior writer for Salon and author of "A Series of Catastrophes & Miracles."

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