‘The Authority Gap’: a book about how mansplaining is covering women’s voices
‘Let me interrupt your expertise with my arrogance’: the frustration of not being heard, to be underestimated and patronized are experiences often described by women talking about the job. English journalist Mary Ann Sieghart has written a book – The Authority Gap – not only to explain why women are still taken less seriously than men, but also what we can do about it. A manifesto explaining why women are still so underestimated and overlooked in today’s world.
She exposes unconscious bias and how to address and counteract systemic sexism in ways that benefit all.
Sieghart urges us to check the language we use to our daughters and our sons, and to notice if a woman is being interrupted or ignored in meetings. She also stresses the importance of men reading more books and watching films by and about women. “All these men have to do is actively decide to expose themselves to women’s voices,” she writes.
The book includes interviews with a number of pioneering women including author Bernadine Evaristo, who got the Booker Prize for her book ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ and commented on ‘The Authority Gap’: ‘Just in case anyone still thinks the patriarchy is a figment of feminist imagination, this book will prove otherwise. Everyone needs to read it, because in order to change our culture, we need to fully recognise the problem’.
Other interviewees are:
- Baroness Hale
- Mary Beard
- Cherie Blair
- Mary McAleese
- Julia Gillard
- Dolly Alderton and Pandora Sykes
- Liz Truss
- Amber Rudd
- Frances Morris
- Laura Bates
Sieghart is a journalist, radio presenter and former assistant editor of The Times, where she wrote columns about politics, social affairs and life in general. She has also written a weekly political column in The Independent.
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