Women in communication: interview with Cristina Ughes of Publicis Media
Coming of age is certainly an important milestone, both for a person and for a brand and, in this very particular case, for ours.
As the female turns 18, we have decided to start a Women Empowerment project that focuses on women who work in the field of communication.
Cristina Ughes, Practice Lead & PM Precision of Publicis Media, answered 5 significant questions for us, explaining that in the modern working world we should no longer pay attention to gender, but to the different abilities of each one.
1. What is "being a woman" like in the world of work?
Men and women, at work as well as in life, have distinctive characteristics that cannot and can never be the same. This to me is the truth. We can no longer speak of inequality simply because women have fewer opportunities than men. Inequality exists and will always exist due to innate characteristics that cannot be changed. And this is not necessarily bad. It is recognized by all that women have, even here by nature and necessity, the ability to be multi-tasking, to think and do more things at the same time, with a greater naturalness than men. It is not that man does not know or cannot do it; it just comes less natural to him. For me, this is an example of a female characteristic that has led to the possibility for women to have different roles and responsibilities than men.
In the past, perhaps the differences in the world of work were attributable, or wanted to be attributed, to pure '' chauvinism '', to wanting to give men a '' higher '' role in society, to wanting to maintain the role of women of "Mother of a family".
Today, in my opinion, this is no longer the case. We are different by nature and this leads to expressing ourselves and giving our best in different roles. Obviously we are not all the same so even within the '' man '' or '' woman '' category there are important differences that lead members of the same category to cover equally distinct roles and responsibilities.
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2. What was "women empowerment" for you at 18?
At 18 I lived my life quietly thinking about my studies, what was best to do after school, how to find my way. I think that the theme of empowerment and wanting to assert oneself enters the life of people, women or men, only when you really enter the world of work, when you enter an absolutely unknown environment and move on to confrontation with people of all ages, with very different goals and ways. I experienced the age of 18 as a moment of indecision, of the fear of taking the wrong path. I have always been quite rational so I admit that it was not a topic dear to me as much as '' I do or don't do university ''.
3. Three words you associate today with "women empowerment"
Naturalness, affirmation, freedom.
4. What would you recommend to the 18-year-old you?
As I said, I was, and still am, very rational in my choices and if I think about the steps taken from the age of eighteen onwards, I cannot regret having reasoned and thought a lot. I made choices with my head trying to work on my path year after year and, going back, I wouldn't change anything. I may have deprived myself of something to avoid wasting time, but I have recovered and repaid all the efforts made!
Now I often work with very young guys, maybe not eighteen but just over twenty, and I always try to make people understand the value of small steps, which at first seem only `` expensive '' but then are destined, with the commitment, to become an excellent investment for one's future.
It happened to me and I hope it can happen to a lot of young guys!
5. How much need is there to talk about women empowerment today and what should be done?
I wish I could say that there is no more need, unfortunately, when I still hear jokes like '' the first woman who takes a prize '', '' the only woman on a panel '', etc etc, I realize that something still needs to be done.
Maybe the solution is not to talk about it anymore? Naturally starting to work with women and men indiscriminately, regardless of roles and positions in the working and non-working society. Consider that there can be women or men on a stage without having to emphasize it. Evaluate that the CEOs are now men but also women.
These are all actions that would allow us to take the step forward, to naturally experience the modern working world.
