‘Woman Question’: Where Is Joanne? Fine Tuning Poor ‘Joe Fan’ Got Swept Up In A Trend.

“Joe Fan,” a statue planned for Joe Albi Stadium, looks like a fine piece of art. The man depicted evokes both nostalgia and team spirit. “Joe Fan“‘s presence in the stadium will introduce young people to art and its ability to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. All this is good.

Monday, two Spokane City Council members asked a question about Joe. Where’s the woman? It might seem like a trite question about a project that is obviously for the greater good. But the sensitivity of Councilwoman Roberta Greene and Mayor Jack Geraghty reflects a larger picture: The importance of including women.

This “Where’s the woman?” question is now being asked almost everywhere people gather in a public way. Putting a conference together? Better get some women leading the workshops or you’ll get The Woman Question. Is your sales team making a pitch to a company? Please include a woman or two on that team. Organizing a board of directors? Don’t forget the women.

There’s no official name for this trend of asking The Woman Question. It’s been going on for a while now and is a tactic taught to women when they gather in groups and learn how to be empowered.

In the 1970s, as women first ventured into larger societal roles, the battle lines were easily drawn. Institutions of all kinds routinely discriminated against women. Didn’t hire them much. Didn’t promote them. Paid them less money when they did. Women fought hard for equality in the 1970s and their efforts paid off.

We almost take for granted now the presence of women where they once were not found. We have women news anchors, politicians, cops, firefighters, astronauts. Women have come a long way, man.

So in the ‘90, we are seeing the fine-tuning. The Woman Question is part of that tuning. If institutions get the question often and must scramble to find enough women for their management teams, their boards, their sales teams, their panels, their teaching faculties, maybe they’ll find some more women to promote so they don’t have to scramble so hard. That’s the logic behind The Woman Question. And it works.

Poor “Joe Fan” got swept up in a trend. But he seems like a big enough man to move over and share a bleacher with Joanne Fan. It’s time.

, DataTimes MEMO: For opposing view, see “Let’s include any type that whines”

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