Honoring Women’s History Month

Can you imagine telling your employees how much they need to weigh, and then making them step onto a scale each month, to keep their job? How about requiring your employees to retire at a certain age or remain single and childless if they want to remain employed? Not so long ago these crazy scenarios were not only acceptable but legal in the workplace.

March is Women's History Month and CEA joins the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history. In honor of this, I am reprinting an article from our March newsletter. Keep reading below.

I often recommend books to other leaders and HR professionals, but this month I’m recommending that you watch a film that not only moved and educated me; but that left my jaw on the floor. Fly With Me tells the story of the pioneering women who became flight attendants at a time when single women were unable to order a drink, eat alone in a restaurant, or own a credit card. In the 1930s, becoming a “stewardess” offered opportunities for travel, adventure, and independence, but it also required incredible conformity to ridiculous rules.

Today, businesses follow Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, but before this employees had no job protection. Fly With Me does a fabulous job of telling the origin story of many of the rules we have in the workplace today. The film also has great interviews with the women who were on the frontlines of the gender equality battle to transform the workplace. If you want a great history lesson along with some amazing film footage, I highly recommend you check out Fly With Me.

We’ve come a long way with protections in the workplace—here’s to you and your continued efforts at creating great cultures for all of your employees!