Astonishing but Hidden: Why Women’s Stories Matter Now
Originally published by Ester K. Choy for Forbes
Many of the world’s most powerful women in leadership have been forgotten by history. Zheng Yi Sao, for example, the most successful pirate in history had 70,000 pirates under her command. Her incredible success has been well documented, so why have we been taught that pirates look like peg-leg Long John Silver?
Women in leadership have been persistently glossed over and buried. “It’s like women’s history has been written in disappearing ink,” said Elizabeth Harmon, PhD, with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.
Women in leadership have internalized the devaluation of women’s stories and now undervalue their own. The impacts are detrimental to men, women and the organizations they lead. Though this problem has long persisted, it’s critical to address now. We are in a period of rapid digitization and machine learning. These technologies can make women’s stories more discoverable — or bury them further.