30. De weg vrijmaken

“Those women who are very exceptional may be accepted into the male establishment. Such a woman becomes, as it were, a male by adoption … Some women adopt this role with so much enthusiasm that they wish to be the only woman to play it … They have been called Queen Bees. Those women who have been co-opted to the male elite, but who are permitted to argue gently and occasionally on behalf of their sex may be called Token Women and those women whose place in the male elite is precarious – who must all the time con - sider whether they are going too far – may be called Precipice Women. Many of the women in the situations described by these labels believe that because they have ‘made it’, other women can too … These women in no way challenge the existing distribution of power or means of access to power.” 173

Het is een citaat uit het boek van Matrix [32] in 1984. Al is er veel veranderd en zijn er steeds meer voorbeelden van vrouwen in bepalende posities, toch lijkt de tijd het pleidooi enkel kracht bij te zetten. Van representatie op zich hoeven we weinig te verwachten als die niet gepaard gaat met een groeiend feministisch bewustzijn. 174 [3+16]