Janelle Benjamin, photographed here in 2021 by The Globe and Mail, says she has job hopped throughout her career because it was the only way to escape misogynoir at work.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
When Nasteho (who requested her last name be withheld due to fear of professional repercussions) landed her first job in Canada, she was thrilled. A Muslim immigrant who had moved from Djibouti in 2019, Nasteho hoped it would be a great launchpad for her career in a new country.
Instead, Nasteho says, she experienced misogynoir – the intersection of racism and sexism that can cause physical, mental and career harm to Black women.
Soon after starting her new role, Nasteho was asked to apply for a permanent, more senior position and was successful. A white colleague, with less experience, who had also applied for the role, shared she was offered a more junior role – with a salary $3,000 more than Nasteho’s.
“I wrote to HR and asked why I was promoted but offered less money than someone who didn’t get the role,” she says. In a follow-up meeting, HR told her to take the offer or leave it, calling her “difficult” and “aggressive.” She says she had never gotten those sorts of criticisms before.
“I went from ‘everybody loves working with me’ to being ‘difficult’ and ‘aggressive.’ Honestly, I didn’t feel aggressive. I was just explaining the situation,” Nasteho says.
Her manager, also Black and an immigrant, advised her to apologize. When she did, “[The HR manager] said, ‘I understand it’s Ramadan and you’re fasting, that’s why your emotions were heightened.’ I ended up crying.”
The HR manager urged Nasteho to forget about the incident and “move on.” But she couldn’t. She started sending out resumes and 10 days later, found another job.
When her manager asked if she was leaving because of the contract situation, she was surprised. “Of course it is,” she told him. “I’m not going to stay where I’m treated like [this].”
Nasteho filed a complaint against her employer with the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) and later settled with them for an undisclosed amount.
“I needed closure,” she says. “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m not going to act like I did.”
From microaggressions to career consequences
Misogynoir, a term coined by feminist scholar and activist Dr. Moya Bailey, describes how anti-Blackness and misogyny can combine to uniquely harm Black women. “Pet to threat,” a theory created by psychologist Dr. Kecia Thomas, describes how Black women are initially embraced at work, but later seen as threats as they gain influence. This shift often leads to negative career consequences and misogynoir.
Studies have confirmed that Black women experience this sort of treatment in the workplace. For example, the 2021 Women in the Workplace report from Lean In and McKinsey & Company found that Black women experience more microaggressions than other groups of women and are three to four times as likely as white women to be subjected to disrespectful and “othering” comments and behaviour. Black women were twice as likely as women overall to say their company has not followed through on their commitments to racial equity, and less than half of Black women felt that inclusion is an important priority at their company.
Janelle Benjamin, a DEI consultant at a Greater Toronto Area hospital who also runs management consulting firm All Things Equitable, says she has experienced bullying, harassment, misogynoir and “pet to threat” treatment throughout her career.
“They’re grateful to show you off as their new shiny thing,” says Ms. Benjamin. “The red carpet gets rolled out. Then the microaggressions begin. Then they start questioning your decision-making.”
Ms. Benjamin says she has had co-workers question her qualifications to work in HR. “That inquiry would not have happened to any other leader, [such as] a man. It would not happen to a white woman. It would not to an Asian person. It was a unique experience.”
Ms. Benjamin has job hopped throughout her career because it was the only way to escape misogynoir at work, she says.
Elissama Menezes, a Black woman of mixed heritage from Brazil, faced similar treatment while working at an environmental nonprofit. She raised concerns about transparency in the workplace and having a clear path for promotion during a meeting that was supposed to be a “safe space.”
“A week later, the manager [and] the client manager sent me an email and said, ‘Hey, we need to talk.’” At the meeting Ms. Menezes was told that HR wasn’t happy that she was critical of the organization.
“They said my comments were attacking in nature. My tone and selection of words were inappropriate. I turned a positive conversation to a negative one and that was toxic,” she shares. “Everyone’s feelings were considered except mine. Calling someone toxic – it’s not a light thing.”
Despite strong peer reviews, Ms. Menezes says she was denied a promotion, had her projects reassigned and discovered that her most recent performance review had been altered from ‘exceeds expectation’ to ‘meets expectation’. She immediately contacted her supervisor,
“She says, ‘HR called me yesterday and asked me to change your performance review.’ Excuse me?”
In 2021, Ms. Menezes filed a complaint with the OHRC, alleging discriminatory treatment based on her race, gender and immigrant status. The case has not yet been resolved.
“I’m not fighting for money. I am fighting for them to change for the women of colour and Black women who could not do anything because they have kids,” she says. “They have much more to think through than [to] just walk away from a job.”
Consultant Vanessa Smithers says that being expected to educate colleagues, speak on behalf of all Black people and take on unpaid DEI labour in the workplace was “exhausting.”Eno Bull Photography/Supplied
A toll on physical and mental health
Misogynoir isn’t just being overlooked for a job – it’s a form of institutional neglect that demands emotional labour and causes lasting harm.
Vanessa Smithers, an African-Nova Scotian consultant who has worked in education, social services and justice, says that while working in jobs where she was the only Black woman in the room, she was often expected to educate colleagues, speak on behalf of all Black people and take on unpaid DEI labour.
“Being the person that was always speaking up, always trying to initiate things ... it just became exhausting,” says Ms. Smithers.
Those experiences took a toll on her mental health. Already living with depression and anxiety, Ms. Smithers found herself bracing for daily microaggressions. “My hoops are too big. My nails are too long. It never stops,” she says.
Now, running her own consultancy, Ms. Smithers calls herself a narrative consultant who supports thousands of Black women around the globe who want to boost or change their careers. She also works with people and organizations to create résumés, LinkedIn profiles, grant proposals and more.
“Black women are exhausted,” she says. Many want to explore entrepreneurship to avoid misogynoir at work, but it feels “impossible” to make that change, she adds.
Dr. Rachel La Touche, a Toronto-based organizational consultant helping companies create healthier workplace cultures, made the decision to start her own business after a health scare.
“My doctor told me, ‘Your blood pressure is through the roof. You’re going to pop and drop at your desk any day,’” she says.
At the time, Dr. La Touche was a faculty member in higher education – and the only Black woman in her department – working in “the most toxic professional environment of my life.” Despite meeting and exceeding tenure benchmarks, she was still asked to wait, while others who didn’t meet those requirements moved through the ranks.
“I’m too young to be on meds because I’m in a stressful environment,” she recalls thinking at the time. “I’m 30-something. No, that’s not the life I want for myself.”
Dr. Rachel La Touche says she made the decision to start her own business after stressful work environments affected her health.Desiree Thomas/Supplied
Noticing the ‘purple flags’
Workplaces need more than policies, buzzwords and lunch-and-learn sessions to combat misogynoir, says Brooke Graham, a DEI strategist at AstraZeneca in Toronto. She urges Canadian workplaces to be braver and more willing to interrupt bias in real time.
“We can’t expect to build inclusion in workplaces without addressing and identifying exclusion as it happens to people,” she advises. “That means noticing the ‘purple flags’ – those moments when something doesn’t sit right – and actually doing something about it.”
Ms. Graham, like many of the women interviewed, advises Black women to prioritize their well-being.
“Find your community. Give yourself grace. We don’t have the luxury of burning out,” she says.
Dr. La Touche says that organizations need to take more care with who they are hiring so that Black women employees aren’t left marginalized and alone.
“No one should be the only Black woman in a department or on a leadership team,” she says. “Hire people who want to support and uplift – not just collect a paycheque.”
And, she says, to Black women experiencing misogynoir: “You don’t have to stay. That job will not love you back.”
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Stacie Campbell/The Globe and Mail