Cultural Norms: Their Hidden Impact In Discrimination & Diversity
Rachel Quilty
Author I Speaker I Brand Strategist I Personal Branding I Business Consultant
Article by Rachel Quilty Author & Brand Consultant
It was a pleasant surprise to be requested to contribute to the #LinkedIn News #IWD 2025 campaign with some practical tips for HR Practitioners and Female Leaders.
When we consider gender equality, intersectionality and the potential of caste systems within our modern-day society; and their contribution to systemic discrimination, we must look at cultural norms.
It is important to remember that men as well as women have felt the boundaries of expectations established from cultural norms. Brene Brown’s work on women and shame unearthed significant data on the impact of cultural norms.
We often focus on the female experience of cultural norms, to be beautiful, slender, youthful, nurturing, steadfast, quietly spoken and opinion free and non-assertive in manner and method. Taylor Swift in a recent interview gave the example, “If you make a move, men are called strategic, while a woman is called calculated.” Swift went on to identify a different language and system for men and women in music industry.
However, men and women experience the pressure to conform to stereotypical gender norms. Research tells us that when we step away from of these norms, judgements occur.
What’s not immediately apparent is that these narratives are used by both sexes and equally the same judgements made. Women will be equally discriminated by women.
How can this be the case? Most sex discrimination is seen to be gender driven Discrimination say Sex Discrimination of a woman is considered to be carried out primarily by a male. Not true… when we consider cultural norms.
A common oversight is to think that sex discrimination is gender driven, that men only discriminate towards women. And that women do not discriminate against women.
This is a false assumption.
When we consider cultural or in this case sexual norms, we as a society are conditioned by the same norms equally. So, women, will also judge harshly and discriminate against women who fail to be pigeonholed into stereotypical sexual roles.
Let me illustrate how women are systemically discriminated against in Australia and other western nations; which ironically is a shade of grey from black listed Nations seen as treating women as second class.
I was raised in a typical household during the 70’s and 80’s, similar to other Western countries where males were treated more favourable than the females. And women were still expected to maintain traditional female roles. I was treated less favourably because I was female. This was typical. Not abuse or neglect merely the way traditional families operated. There were different expectations on me as a female from my siblings, my parents and my community than on my brothers due to these norms.
Shockingly, a woman will equally prioritise men as a man would. And equally dismiss, trivialise and devalue women as a male would.
Therefore, the common view to overcome discrimination is to engage females in more leadership roles. However, if we consider Government Departments such as the Police Force where systemic discrimination has been identified by various Royal Commissions, we see that the solution is not in equal representation or engagement of females in leadership roles.
Anti-discrimination claims superficially may look like they are declining however, most will not succeed as discrimination is seen as systemic. We sadly, also live in a culture where victims are victimised to fit a funding model and the system will attempt to discredit the individual rather than accepting appropriate feedback due to the lack of true leadership in Government Departments. Departments resist recruitment, employment and promotion to employ, promote or engage true leaders.
Some may claim this is a harsh criticism however; most government employees were employed because they could not make it in the real world. If you could not get into university, you got a government job. If you could not get a job in the private sector, you got a government job. Hence why, contracting consultant was necessary to bring in the necessary expertise, management and leadership skills absent in the existing workforce.
As such a decision has been made to just engage females in leadership roles. Often token. Often engaged if they remained open to influence.
Concentrating on male behaviour will not resolve discrimination, nor will promoting females into management roles. Unless, unbiased personal views can be expressed, reflected and imposed consistently and consciously, discrimination will continue.
How do we advance and ensure an improvement in systemic discrimination?
In the article Bold Brand Leadership, which considered brands who had leveraged social injustice engage skill and expertise, to capture greater goodwill, and as a result market share.
The solution is simple.
The development, review and implementation of organisational policies, procedures and protocols will greatly assist internal and external discrimination. While in recruitment, employment, and promotion blind and performance-based criteria must be adopted. This means contrary to existing methodologies where gender, sexual preferences, ethnicity, nationality is prioritised; that capacity is the only criteria.
We must prevent personal bias as well as conditioned cultural norms from influencing outcomes, and services with strict procedural compliance and recognise where there is a degree of personal judgement and possible bias that cultural norms are recognised and their impact countered. This may mean ensure that services are provided by the same sex, gender-specific services are introduced, that new procedures are implemented.
Importantly, in Government Departments such as Police Services and Health the importance of non-discriminatory service becomes a priority to ensure human rights and rule of law are maintained, and more importantly that corruption and maltreatment is not normalised.
Many individuals, particularly in government services may not have been educated in the importance of quality assurance, and the necessity of consistent, high-quality outcomes, and their impact on profitability and ultimately viability. The Australian private sector and business community has had the wake-up call when Asian imports savaged the Australian manufacturing sector.
It is timely that Government Department and Government Services re-visit their compliance of procedures particularly post-COVID, Disaster, and International Crisis’s and educate employees on the importance of procedures and their compliance.
You might be wondering by this time, why are we focused on Government employees and Government services. The reason is that they are a significant employer and service provider, and when large institutes implement change, this has a significant flow on effect. It is also important to recognise that the volume of complaints, resources wasted from the discriminatory behaviours and attitudes of government employees and their leadership is a significant cost to the public purse. This loss of productivity and inappropriate re-direction of resources is substantial and should not be overlooked or underestimated.
It is also important to recognise that when important cultural shifts occur in institutions such as government departments the flow on to the broader community is considerable.
In ‘The Gifts’ by Brene Brown, Brown reveals how deeply entrenched these gender norms are and how damaging it can be when we fall short of these ideals and expectations of others.
To be honest, this process of recognising that females discriminate equally is an awakening to the unconscious conditioning we have received from our childhoods. And an acceptance of such behaviour from males and to a degree females is consistent with our conditioning.
Many women at one point in their lives experience and express a view of preferring male company. Some actually hating women and more importantly hating being a woman.
This is women recognising the second-class treatment, expressing this resentment and also their frustration at women happy to concede to traditional norms or attempting to claw them back to the old ways.
As a young woman I was part of a female cohort that was defying cultural norms, seeking further education, and in a non-traditional field and in a non-traditional career. While I have experienced discrimination from men it has been largely as a result of being counter-cultural norm. I have experienced more deliberate harm and hostility from women, expressing their insecurities triggered by their own inadequacies as I step away from traditional female roles, norms and mannerisms.
We must address discrimination within a broader understanding of cultural norms and their conditioned expectations on our society.
In Australia, research confirms we attack female leadership as well as female celebrity. The tall poppy syndrome is alive and well. Sadly, an indication of the mental health and scarcity mindset of many.
Unchecked this unconscious bias will result in cultural norms driven systemic discrimination, rather than gender driven discrimination which we see in Government Departments and in therefore in the provision of all government services.
So not only do we have to recognise our own conditioning around stereotypes and our conditioned responses and expectation we must also have the courage it takes to act contrary to these norms and the confidence to enable people to step out of these traditional cultural norms. We must watch old stereotypes, stigma and our lived experiences and the assumptions we make and the discriminatory results they may have.
We must watch for the next wave of non-traditional adjustments and their impact on services and culture. For example, a new wave of female domestic violence victims are professional females, vastly different from traditional low socio-economic. While a new workforce will be from adults who were children with complex needs and significant childhood trauma, whether documented or not. Migrants from countries with well-established caste systems and differing treatment of gender and nationalities.
Why is this important?
It is important because we will see personal bias re-emerge and resultant discrimination unless we see appropriate governance and compliance with policies, procedures, processes and protocols.
This frustration at others capacity to move away from traditional norms can cause institutional harm and systemic discrimination to flourish. Evident in our existing Human Rights records and results.
This can be compounded by personal childhood trauma, lived experiences and lack childhood attachment. We must watch for abuse of power, breaches of privacy, false assumptions, altering files, scarcity thinking, false narratives, triangulation, sabotage and adults who were children with high complex needs and their ability to groom and manipulate is not entrenched in our workforces. And conversely being too trusting that staff are trustworthy and honest.
Importantly being na?ve is equally dangerous to the truth if false narratives are accepted without investigation or without evidence. Its today’s society managers must have an understanding of impact of childhood trauma, childhood abuse & absence of attachment in infants and its prevalence in our adult workforce. And the emergence of a true idiocrasy.
The significance therefore of professional development and personal growth can not be under-estimated. Likewise education of gender -specific cultural norms, our expectations and how these may be impacting diversity and inclusion in our modern workforces.
Further Reading:
Branding is not always easy. And it requires bold brand leadership. In this article I shares some case studies on iconic brands which took controversial stances which resulted in significant brand growth and inevitable brand market leadership. Read more:
And to take bold branding steps requires Cultural Intelligence around norms and their impact in the workplace: Read more:
By Rachel Quilty The Brand Architect at Jump the Q Inc
@RachelQuilty #Quote #JumptheQ "Personal Branding Tip. Become The Only Choice Brand In Your Field. Position yourself so there is no alternative. You are the 'only choice' Brand."
Free Brand Journal & Workbook: Start your Brand #Journey today!
VIP Offer: Brand Yourself book NOW SALE on @Amazon US & FREE on @KindleUnlimited
Aust - https://lnkd.in/gPa9Je4
USA - https://lnkd.in/gMq7PP6
FREE Kindle Book Bonus for VIP's - That's You!
Australian Brands Leaders
USA Brand Leaders
Jump the Q VIP's can grab Rachel Quilty's book 'Brand Yourself' from Amazon Kindle
“If you want to move mountains in your life, your personal brand had better stand for something special. This book is great whether you already are a successful leader or wish to become one.”
@RaymondAaron - New York Times Top Ten Bestselling Author - www.aaron.com
“Rachel Quilty has decisively moved the personal branding discipline forward. Her work is leading edge, informative, inspiring, challenging and a must read for anyone who wants greater influence and success.”
@ScottLetourneau USA - CEO of Nevada Corporate Planners, Inc. -www.nvinc.com
“When it comes to branding and creating your celebrity image, there is no better Expert on the subject than Rachel Quilty of Jump the Q. Rachel's professionalism, quality, and attention to detail is exemplary. She not only walks the talk, but gets the result for her clients and her students worldwide in terms of brand recognition. It is my pleasure to recommend her book to you if you are looking to go to the next level with your Personal Brand to achieve greater success. “
@DebraThompsonRoedl USA - www.debrathompsonroedl.com.
“Nothing will pay greater dividends than building a personal brand. Rachel Quilty’s Brand Yourself book is a great way to start your own personal branding process.”
@AnnReinten Aust. - Image Innovators - www.imageinnovators.com
Your Brand Story:
The best positioning you can have among your prospects and customers is that of an expert, an authority in your area of expertise. Someone is waiting to hear your brand hashtag#story and your brand solution... You are not only the hero of your brand story. You are called to be a hero to many... Free To Start Your Brand #Journey Today!
Get your FREE Brand hashtag#Journal hashtag#Workbook & hashtag#Tutorials Now @ https://www.brandyourselfblueprint.com
Free 30min Mini-Brand Consult with Rachel Quilty
Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] www.RachelQuilty.com or head to Socials
Stay Connected To Rachel Quilty
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachelQuilty/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelquilty/
LinkedIn: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/rachelqui...
Read More:
Learn More: www.BrandYourselfBlueprint.com
Web www.JumptheQ.com.au