We Don't Have Imposter Syndrome

 

I hope my readers who are interested in space stuff got to watch the livestream of the Mars Rover landing. The rover's name is Perseverance, and they keep referring to it as a "she" and saying, "She's still alive," which appeals to the side of me that personifies absolutely everything, even my paper shredder. I had the livestream on in the background as I worked and then took a quick break to watch the last few minutes as Perseverance plunged toward the Martian surface. When she touched down safely and all the mission people erupted into cheers, I legit teared up - not so much because I care about Mars exploration (although it is interesting), but because I could feel the relief of all those people, and then their jubilation. Then Perseverance sent a grainy picture where you could see her shadow on the rocky surface, and at that point I turned the livestream off. They said higher resolution photos will be forthcoming, but I don't need to see those in real time.

Imagine that you have been recruited by a professional football team, and during a game you catch the ball and run it in for a touchdown, but nobody else is joining your victory dance. Imagine they all said, "You were hired to be the mascot so don't touch the ball!" but they had no problem accepting the points - they just credited them to the closest "real" player. Wouldn't you be confused? Would you quietly go and put on the costume you hadn't even realized you were supposed to wear? Because that is the experience of so many of us in the workforce who aren't white men. My neighbor sent me this article, about how we should stop calling it Imposter Syndrome, and I couldn't agree more. The "experts" keep saying the reason women - and especially minority women - doubt ourselves in professional settings is because of the nagging voice in our own heads, essentially making the problem ours. But I agree with the article that the voices are not in our heads, but are actually all around us: the parents who think sons have inherent worth but daughters have to prove their worth; the schools that laugh at boys' misbehavior but insist girls should be quiet (just not TOO quiet); the old boys' club at work that sees women as ornaments and gofers, even when they have the same titles. The same quality that makes a white man seem like a "go-getter" is seen in a black woman as unreasonable anger. So no, we women don't have "Imposter Syndrome" - we have a perfectly reasonable reaction to a culture that is telling us we are imposters if we succeed, and that we only got to where we are because of quotas. Nobody ever chalks up a white man's success to "quotas."

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