Every smart and powerful woman who dares to challenge the status quo in a male dominated field will find she must endure room after room filled with men in power, many of whom are fundamentally undeserving of such a position, who will be vested with the authority of passing judgment on her accomplishments. Any time she wishes to proceed another level upward, she will encounter another room (or series of rooms, more likely) full of those men, and in every one of them she will find at least one small brained, insecure man, who would sooner burn the institution to the ground than to feel himself emasculated by her; to see his abilities and evolution eclipsed by her success.
Within the walls of these rooms he will exploit the collective fears of men, capitalizing on the implicit trust they share with one another, the same trust they deny the female sex. It is in this way that the achievements of women are usurped and erased by lesser men. To compete with men in a male arena where judgment is passed by men, a woman must accept that her ideal outcome should be modified to incorporate this reality. Whenever possible it may be prudent to realign one's goals so as not to be in direct competition. When that is not possible and a direct comparison must be made, a woman must take every measure possible to load her arsenal with strategic firepower. Generate channels of influence. Invite feminist allies to represent her. Create a team, or better yet, a following. Keep transparent intentions and obfuscated plans of action. Do not let them see her become emotional. Do not let them antagonize her feminist sensibilities. She must keep her head down and do her work. If she is extremely lucky, perhaps her ideas will be accepted by mankind, but not before assigning credit to one of their own (men).
Such is the way of this patriarchal world. For centuries the accomplishments of women have been rewritten, stolen, lost, and/or destroyed. If woman is to ever find a way out of the supporting roles in the great machine of humanity, she must first accept and understand its current assembly.
