Meta’s Masculinity Makeover: Is Mark Zuckerberg Turning Back the Clock on Workplace Equality?
Dr Neelam Batra-Verma
Masculinity in Corporate America
Is corporate feminism—once a badge of honor for Meta (formerly Facebook)—coming to an end? That’s the question the world is asking after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent remarks on a podcast sparked controversy.
Meta’s bold stance of promoting feminism in the corporate world, seems to be ending. Like the Subramaniyams of India, is Mark Zuckerberg going back to the male dominated corporate age, giving the women in his office, the boot? Or rendering them to the lowest realm of the corporate ladder.
While talking on a recent podcast, Facebook or Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg commented that “a lot of the corporate world is pretty culturally neutered” and suggested that workplaces should push “masculine energy” in workplaces. “I think having a culture that, like, celebrates the aggression a bit more has its own merits that are really positive.”
What does that mean and where does it leave feminism or women in work places? It is a known fact that corporate America is dominated by men anyways, thus continuing the traditional male dominated power dynamics. Only 10 per cent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. Meta top bosses are dominated by 10 men and only three women. But then, has he forgotten the contribution of Sheryl Sandberg, who served as the Chief Operating Officer on Meta Platforms from 2008 to 2022 and widely contributed to what Meta is today through advertising business. She was the first woman elected as director of Meta.
It was only under Sheryl’s leadership that Facebook became family friendly and its subscribers reached its peak. Didn’t Zuckerberg think of masculine energy when he was making money with the help of ‘feminine energy”? According to a 2024 McKInsey and Company report, there has only been a slight increase at every level of corporate management. “Most notably, women today make up 29 percent of C-suite positions, compared with just 17 percent in 2015. But progress has been much slower earlier in the pipeline, at the entry and manager levels.”
On the surface, it might seem that women have come a long way in making their presence felt in the workplace, but the McKinsey report concludes that there still is a lengthy path ahead. According to this report, women still have to jump many hoops to reach a place, which could be considered to have parity with men.
The report also highlighted that the corporate pipeline is not healthy for women as they remain underrepresented across the ladder, a gender gap that persists regardless of race and ethnicity. Simply put, men outnumber women at every level and it will take 50 years to reach parity with men. Women still have to bear the brunt of microaggression in the workplace. “28 percent of women today recognize microaggressions—comments and actions that undermine their credibility and leadership skills—against other women, nearly the same as the 33 percent in 2019, though still larger than the 11 percent of men who recognize microaggressions today.” This apart, women still are the majority care givers for their families, with men still not contributing enough in the dynamics of the household.
Yet, women are striving to achieve higher, despite the societal pressures thrust upon them and their contribution cannot be undermined by Zuckerberg’s callous “masculine energy” remark., therefore highlighting a workplace culture that women are often penalized for exhibiting traits traditionally associated with masculinity, such as ambition and assertiveness. On the one hand women are accused of being too assertive, on the other hand they are perceived as lacking the qualities that drive success in male dominated workplaces. This hypocrisy is what Sandberg highlighted in her tenure at Facebook and through her bestselling book Lean In.
Undoubtedly, Zuckerberg’s remark aims to push back all the advances made during the emancipation era along with decades of research on workplace equality. This will also likely alienate talent, at a time when the new generation is looking for work life balance, giving diversity and mental health a priority.
In a fast-moving world, if companies ignore the shift to parity, risk falling behind. If Meta’s leadership continues to cling to outdated gender norms, it may not only alienate employees but also lose relevance in the future.