Authenticity
Wokewashing and all its shenanigans
A few years ago I read Brand New, a book about the importance of brand authenticity in a world where “doing good” and CSR was gaining popularity as a marketing tool. Many brands were experiencing customer scrutiny & disappointment as a result.
One of my favorite counter examples in the book is Ryan Air, a low-cost European airline. “Ryan Air doesn’t claim it wants to make the world a better place,” says author Wally Olins, “It’s quite clear that Ryan Air uses every opportunity it can to make money out of its passengers. With Ryan Air, you know exactly where you are. It is a model of clarity and authenticity.”
Recently I was discussing a company’s inclusion efforts with one of Project Femlead’s participants. She paused, sighed and said:
“Male CEOs say that we have a D&I program in place. Like what? You have a video? It’s [just] about saying that you did it and putting it on your website. It’s like the new greenwashing in sustainability.”
The greenwashing analogy made me think of Olins’ Ryan Air example: “with Ryan Air, you know exactly where you are.” The participant was exasperated because she didn’t see real action behind the words of her company leadership. It’s not even about doing “the good.” It’s about making sure that saying what you will do and what you actually do lines up. It’s about authenticity.
What does authenticity look like?
I often ask participants of Project Femlead what they’d like to see their companies do in an effort towards gender equity. I hear a request for authenticity all the time:
As I wrote this issue, I realized that authenticity as a request hardly comes as a surprise — don’t we expect it to be a given or a basic standard? Often, it is not. Not in sustainability, not in marketing, and not in D&I either.
Part of the issue is that every organization is at a different point along the gender equity spectrum — yet most lean on one-stop-solutions such as “one hour trainings” as an effort to make change. This hardly feels like an effort to those experiencing the inequity. Several Project Femlead participants tell me that they want their organizations to take a good hard look at where they are, acknowledge it, and commit to how they want to change. When I hear this over and over again, I wonder — that in asking for problem acknowledgement — aren’t we just asking for the bare minimum? Then why is it so hard?
When you think about authenticity in your workplace, what instances comes to mind? Where do you feel your company is succeeding or failing with authenticity, especially with gender equity?
This post is an excerpt from Unconforming: a newsletter about Design for Women. Unconforming goes out every two weeks and also shares learnings from experts, job and other opportunities, examples and articles — all to make an impact in the women’s space. Sign up here to get it in your inbox!
