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A review by rosemarieshort
Lean in: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
3.0
In reviewing this book, I think it’s important to acknowledge it’s 10 years or so since it was published. Attitudes to women in business have developed a lot in that time - which in fairness is in the spirit of what Sandberg writes on. I really enjoyed anecdotes from her time at Google and Facebook, as well as stories and quotes from influential people she had met throughout her career. That being said, my view is that Lean In is about empowering mothers in the workplace, rather that women.
In what feels an outdated view, the way that feminism and supporting women is celebrated is exclusively through the lens of them being equal childrearing partners and successful executives. A quote to outline this comes when a single, childless employee notes she wants “free time” in the evenings as much as her parent colleagues, who leave on time to have dinner with their children. When talking about how she feels shes unfairly picking up the slack, the worker says, “my co-workers should understand that I need to go to a party tonight, and this is just as legitimate as a kids soccer game, because going to a party is the only way I might actually meet someone and start a family, so I have a soccer game to go to one day!”
Does the party need to lead to her being a wife and mother? Or can she not just want to go to her party… because she wants to?
Perhaps because Sandberg is a Mother herself and is more entrenched in her experience than that of women without children, is why the book seems entirely focused on Motherhood and Womanhood being synonymous. I would be curious to see her views today, and whether they’ve evolved with the changing world.
In what feels an outdated view, the way that feminism and supporting women is celebrated is exclusively through the lens of them being equal childrearing partners and successful executives. A quote to outline this comes when a single, childless employee notes she wants “free time” in the evenings as much as her parent colleagues, who leave on time to have dinner with their children. When talking about how she feels shes unfairly picking up the slack, the worker says, “my co-workers should understand that I need to go to a party tonight, and this is just as legitimate as a kids soccer game, because going to a party is the only way I might actually meet someone and start a family, so I have a soccer game to go to one day!”
Does the party need to lead to her being a wife and mother? Or can she not just want to go to her party… because she wants to?
Perhaps because Sandberg is a Mother herself and is more entrenched in her experience than that of women without children, is why the book seems entirely focused on Motherhood and Womanhood being synonymous. I would be curious to see her views today, and whether they’ve evolved with the changing world.