The term “lean in” has been used fairly regularly in feminist discourse. It originated in a book published by Sheryl Sandberg that discusses factors that hold women back in the workforce and how women, she says, often hold themselves back. And I largely disagree with her.
One of the main ideas in this book (and in Sandberg’s TED Talk) is that women are too often “leaning out” of their careers. For one reason or another – being discriminated against in the workplace, being accused of being “bossy”, being outnumbered by men in the workplace – women can become discouraged at their jobs and afraid to take risks and climb the career ladder. When women have kids, Sandberg says, they tend to sacrifice time at work for time with their families, and their ambitions at their jobs are placed essentially on the back burner. She asserts that equal domestic responsibility with one’s romantic partner might work better instead, so that no one person is doing the bulk of the domestic labor, such as cooking, cleaning and childcare.
The “lean in” phenomenon has since sparked much discussion in feminist circles about how this philosophy is indicative of so-called “white feminism”– a non-inclusive, non-intersectional type of feminism which fails to represent women of color and trans women, among other groups.
The “Lean In” philosophy has been heavily critiqued by feminist academics. bell hooks wrote an essay titled Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In in which she called out Sandberg for using “faux feminism” or “corporate feminism” that caters to the wealthy, white men who currently hold power in our society. (Basically, to empower wealthy, white women they should mimic wealthy, white men.) hooks also discusses how the philosophy only works within the current oppressive system instead of abolishing the whole kyriarchal system in favor of a better one.
Another productive critique is Recline, don’t ‘Lean In’ (Why I hate Sheryl Sandberg) by Rosa Brooks. Brooks discusses how “leaning in” puts responsibility on women to do more and more when really, women should be fighting for the right to not have to do twice the work to get equal results in our careers.
A further critique by Kathleen Geier has a thought-provoking quote with regards to Sandberg’s idea that if more women were in leadership positions, all women would benefit:
There is little reason to have faith that Sandberg-style ‘trickle-down’ feminism will benefit the masses any more than its economic equivalent has … her enthusiasm for capitalism and her advocacy of a depoliticized strategy that focused on self-improvement rather than collective action troubled many feminists on the left.
My own personal critique of the philosophy is based off of the assumptions it makes. It assumes that women have partners or want partners–how are you going to share housework with your partner if you are a single parent?
Another assumption Sandberg seems to make is that all women hold a career as their highest priority. It seems to look down on stay-at-home mothers as women as having incorrect priorities (i.e., those that don’t align with capitalist values.) Staying at home to care for one’s home and family is a valid and totally respectable choice, however – and can be financially preferable to working in a country where childcare gets extremely expensive.
“Leaning in” reminds me a lot of “respectability politics,” in which you show the oppressor you’re hardworking and well-behaved, instead of actually challenging the system that makes you oppressed in the first place. It also seems to blame women for their own obstacles and struggles, much like a bootstraps ideology—it’s like saying, if only women “leaned in” enough, these obstacles wouldn’t exist.
Such a philosophy is also ableist, in that it assumes all women are abled enough to make these “gains” in their workplace–going in overtime, going the extra mile, if you will. That is just not conducive to the energy levels or even the desires of some women.
Instead of putting the onus on women to fix their own workplace inequality individually, real gains should be made through policy change and cultural attitudes.
Domestic labor is currently grossly undervalued and racialized in the U.S. In addition, cultural ideas like those about “bossy” women or women being inherently less inclined to work in STEM fields need to become unacceptable.
We also need policies that include paid family and sick leave, universal childcare, raising the minimum wage, eradicating workplace discrimination and harassment, closing the wage gaps that exist with regards to gender, race, ability, etc.— these steps could be a start to creating real solutions to the problems women face in the workforce.