The motherhood penalty
Porges tells us about the "motherhood penalty," which is a term for the impediments and obstacles women face in the workplace after they choose to have children. However, Porges points out that ironically, this penalty can even affect women who have no intention of having children, because it is assumed that they will.
The wrong woman
Porges remembers an embarrassing incident in a meeting, where a woman called Laura was accused of "poaching" staff from another person's school. Ironically, it was actually Marisa herself who employed the member of staff, meaning that Laura had been mistaken for her (the only other woman in the room!)
Calling someone out
After being accused of poaching staff, Marisa calmly and assertively handled the situation. She tells us that "ironically, calling Kevin out for calling me out helped quickly resolve things." This is ironic because it is not the outcome she expected.
Interruptions
Porges describes a conference at the Austin Conference Center, noting that "men make up approximately 70 percent of all panel speakers at professional conferences." In this particular conference, lone female speaker Megan Smith is constantly interrupted by the other male panel members. At the end of the conference, an audience member stood up and ironically states that "research tells us that women are interrupted a lot more than men."
Losing their voices
At the conference, the audience member continues her statement, telling the male panel members "I wonder if you are aware that you have interrupted Megan many more times than you have interrupted each other." Marisa states that the male panelists had "suddenly lost their voices," which is ironic because they had taken away Megan's voice by interrupting her earlier in the conference.
Competition
Marisa states that competition is often seen as a negative term. However, she argues that this is an incorrect way of thinking about competition, as ironically, having a healthy competitive spirit is important for thriving in the workplace.
Essential skills
Marisa argues that women are naturally more adept at certain skills, such as communication, relationship building, and teamwork. However, she also states that ironically these skills are not actively taught in most skills.
Presentation skills
Marisa remembers a recent holiday, when a friend's daughters advocated for their right to have a phone at dinner. As such, Marisa sees this as a good example of how to get girls to practice self-advocacy and persuasion. The girls put forward their presentation, and Marisa ironically states that "her rationale may not have held up under Supreme Court review," but that her case was calm and thoughtful.
