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Assert Yourself Without Being Assertive, and Other Lessons I Was Told to Learn
Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece by a former English instructor who suggested that Dr. Jill Biden, the new First Lady of the next administration, refrain from using the term Dr. as she is not a medical doctor. Among the many issues with the piece was the over-riding sense of misogyny of a man telling a woman how to refer to herself in any setting, much less a professional one.
It reminded me of how I once bought into this type of environment, believing that changing how I referred to my professional accomplishments would somehow validate the experiences of those around me. What it actually did was diminish my ability to be myself, as I watched people with much less education and experience push forward mediocre and underwhelming projects. I refrained from putting my own education and background to work when it was needed the most because I believed it was in the best interest of others.
What I ultimately learned is that I had been primed for years and years to diminish myself, always to the benefit of the majority, when my accomplishments should have reflected could have benefited the most marginalized among us. I am sharing an update of a post I made last year, in hopes that it helps others see their own experiences as part of a pattern and that what…
