Okay Ladies,​ Now Let's Get In Formation

There was a time when women were pitted against each other in the workplace, and we believed that the best man (or woman) would get the job. But after the election of a certain president, and the #MeToo feminist awakening, one thing is clear: women need to work together. Meet the women doing just that

- Lauren Sams

The year was 2014, and this was a sound bite from Julie Bishop, then the highest ranking female member of parliament. At the time, Bishop’s statement caused a stir – after all, there’s no denying that Bishop has been the beneficiary of feminism – but just four years later, it seems less outrageous than simply… outdated.

In less than an Olympic cycle, women in government – and everywhere, really – have gone from “it’s not part of my lexicon” (which Bishop went on to say in the same speech in 2014) to “I’m proud to call myself a feminist,” as fellow Liberal Kelly O’Dwyer said at an International Women’s Day event earlier this year. “As a nation,” the Minister for Women said, “we must demand a life for women where they don’t just survive, they thrive.” It’s probably a sentiment Bishop herself would agree with, even if she might not say it out loud. But that’s the thing: the time for silence and “things will all work out” is over. It’s time to speak up.

Welcome to feminism’s fifth wave, where women are each other’s lifeguards, spotters, paramedics, champions and teammates everywhere – especially at work. While there’s always been a certain poignancy in Madeleine Albright’s famous quote, “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other,” her words have never seemed more prescient. Because decades after we joined the mainstream, male-dominated workforce, decades after we joined the ranks of politics, sports, arts, fashion, media, medicine and law, decades after legislation was introduced to protect us at work, we women have finally figured out a great secret of adulthood – that the workplace is not a meritocracy, and that to get ahead, we’re going to have to fight the system together.