Letters

A global campaign #EmbraceAmbition has been launched to encourage women to embrace ambition.

The initiative kicked off last week to coincide with International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.

It aims to address the double standard that exists around ambition, which is often seen as a great attribute in men and as a negative one in women.

A cornerstone of the multi-faceted campaign is a public service announcement (PSA) video celebrating ambition, and featuring celebrities and business leaders from diverse industries including entertainment (Gwyneth Paltrow, Julianne Moore, Kerry Washington, Chris Pine, Reese Witherspoon), fashion (Anna Wintour), sports (Billie Jean King, Gabby Douglas, Laila Ali), business (Eric Schmidt, Sheryl Sandberg, Anne Finucane), philanthropy (Melinda Gates) and more.

Forty years since the beginning of the modern women’s rights movement, the numbers associated with women’s parity with men in the workplace are still appallingly low. Only four per cent of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies are women and, similarly, women hold less than 20 per cent of board seats. In government, the numbers are no different. Women make up about 19 per cent of the US Congress and account for less than 10 per cent of top national leaders globally.

While there are systematic impediments to women’s success in business, cultural mores are also to blame.

In one of my first interviews, a reporter mentioned the word ‘ambitious’, and I commented that the word annoyed me. A friend of mine said: ‘You should never shy away from that word’. She was right. I realised that I had bought into the stigma that women shouldn’t be ambitious – that it was unattractive. That creates a harmful double standard that we must overcome in order to achieve equality.

As part of the campaign, visitors to EmbraceAmbition.org will be invited to take a digital pledge to #EmbraceAmbition, challenge friends to take the pledge and share their ambition on social media using the hashtag.

There will also be content and tools on confidence and goal-setting as well as interviews with successful women about ambition.

Tory Burch, founder of the Tory Burch Foundation.

Editor’s note: Tory Burch, pictured above, is an American fashion designer, businesswoman and philanthropist who has won several fashion awards for her designs.

We are preparing to launch an awareness exhibition on original and counterfeit spare parts in cooperation with the Car Agencies Association. The exhibition will be held from today until Tuesday at City Centre Bahrain’s ground floor from 10am to 10pm.

The mall exhibition aims to concentrate on consumer awareness of their rights and duties as well as offering information about motor maintenance, aftersales services and security controls.

It also offers an opportunity for car agencies to highlight the key differences between the two and the risks involved in using counterfeit car spares instead of original parts. The event includes live reviews and awareness brochures will also be distributed.

The Consumer
Protection Directorate,
Ministry of Industry,
Commerce & Tourism.