Here’s Why It’s Not Okay For Men To Lead A “Women In The Workforce” Initiative

Over the past couple of weeks the world has watched as Donald Trump single handedly appointed some of the most unqualified individuals to his cabinet. Yet, it was not until he appointed Doug McMillon, the Chief Executive of Wal-Mart, and Mark Weinberger, the Chief Executive of EY to represent women initiatives that many of us were completely dumbfounded. Two men appointed to advise our president on what women need? Two men elected to decide the fate of women in the workplace?

Is it okay for two male CEO’s to spearhead this women’s initiative?

McMillon has been sued numerous times for unfair treatment of women in the workplace as well as child labor violations. For example, the Dukes VS. Wal Mart case included 1.6 million women who currently work or have worked for Wal-Mart stores, including the lead plaintiff, Betty Dukes.

Dukes, a current Wal-Mart employee, and others, alleged gender discrimination in pay and promotion policies and practices in Wal-Mart stores. In 2013, Walmart also had 13 lawsuits filed against them for discrimination of disabled individuals.

As the president put out a call to ban all immigration into the U.S., Weinberger failed to take a positive stance on the issue. Instead of taking a side, he put out a letter to all employees stating that his workplace would remain, “inclusive.” Many people felt like that was enough and we depend on our big leaders and playmakers to speak up for what is right and what is wrong. When Weinberger speaks for women, will he be speaking for all women or only American ones?

Underrepresented people will continue to be underrepresented if they are not given a seat at the table. We cannot have men representing women who are underrepresented in the workplace.

It’s hard to speak about something you’ve never experienced first hand. Why get two men when there are women CEO’s and executives everywhere who understand the wage gap and actually suffer from these unfair practices themselves?

Trumps cabinet is the most unbalanced in history. Trump went out of his way to ensure that he had a cabinet full of people who look, think, and act like him. Out of his 17 cabinet members only 4 are women.