ProfileLeisl Morris- Parks and Recreation Director

Everyday thousands are not given work opportunities because of their gender. I

had the opportunity to speak to a woman that has had experiences with not given

opportunities because of her gender. The woman that I had the chance to talk to is

Leisl Morris. Leisl is a small middle aged woman. Looking at her, you wouldn’t think

she was confident. Truth be told, she actually is very confident. She is small but

mighty. She is kind to those she meets and her workers. I thought that she was a

sweet genuine person. Leisl is a recreation coordinator for Murray Parks and

Recreation. She works to provide kids up to adults with recreation sports to play. Leisl

graduated from Brigham Young University.

Leisl stated that Murray City has been great to work with and that she thinks that

she is getting the same opportunities as the men she works with. In a job force that is

male dominated, she said that she has been treated pretty fairly. There have been

many times in Leisl’s life that she has not been treated fairly.

She gave some skills that have come in handy to handle situations where she

was not being treated equal. Women have a voice and they need to use it. Just

conversing with others gets the word out and can help you get comfortable giving your

opinion. She wants women to be educated. Women are so powerful when they are

educated and using their resources. If a situation ever happens to you regarding

opportunity, know that you are not alone and document in detail the situation. There are

many women that have go through situations with not getting the same opportunities

and they are there to support you.

If you have a situation when you are not given the same opportunities, talk to

someone about it. She gave the advice of talking to your supervisor or a higher

authority. There are thousands of resources and people you help you. You may even

have to go as high as the HR Department. Make sure that you have a paper trail. If

you have records, it helps the process.

When asked to give girls advice, Leisl said, “Set goals, believe in yourself, and

dream big” (Morris). She wants girls to succeed and prove that women can do anything

a man can. Leisl is a huge supporter of women getting an education. Her advice is for

girls to get as much education as you can and while you are young. Even if you are a

stay at home mom, you can be a better mom and community member with a degree.

There are many opportunities that arrive when you have a degree.

There have been many times that Leisl has had a problem with not being treated

equally compared to her male coworkers. When asked how she overcame she

explained, “Read!” (Morris). She was girls and even boys to read. Read everything you

can including women in history. She would talk to other people and gained a strong

network. There have been many groups that Leisl has been a part of that are support

groups. She thinks that everyone should have a support group to fall back to.

As stated before, there have been many times that Leisl has not been given the

same opportunities as men. The following are specific examples. The first is when she

worked for Delta Airlines. All of the supervisors with men other than one. At the time

they did not give opportunities for women to excel in that field. The second time was

actually happened quite a bit while her children were growing up. She would want to

coach her children’s teams and they would

not let her. They would not want to give

her the coaching responsibility because

“she might quit or have another baby”

(Morris). This was not the case but that is

what the men thought.

Throughout the past years, women

equality has changed. Leisl said that with

more and more women getting an

education, they are getting more

responsibilities and getting management

jobs. It all was mad possible during World

War 2. Without all of the men leaving for

the war, women would still be in the home in

the United States. The picture to the right is

of Rosie the Riveter. She was an icon for women during the war. She was a hope and

a light to all women and still is. With getting a more successful job, women are getting

paid more. A quote by B. R. Ambedkar states, “I measure the progress of a community

by the degree of progress which women have achieved” (Ambedkar). This means that

when women are paid well and are successful, the community does well also.

Figure 1 https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.thinglink.me%2Fapi%2Fimage%2F632629985345011712%2F1240%2F10%2Fscaletowidth&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thinglink.com%2Fscene%2F632629985345011712&docid=aaHvMO1bxVyvlM&tbnid=IuIV5iasThVevM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjH39PKypHTAhUD3mMKHb-_AaIQMwhcKAswCw..i&w=1000&h=1197&bih=746&biw=1524&q=women%20equality&ved=0ahUKEwjH39PKypHTAhUD3mMKHb-_AaIQMwhcKAswCw&iact=mrc&uact=8#spf=1

The past several years many ads have gone viral.

The purpose of the ads is make people think and question

some of the values many think are normal. The makers of

the ads have made thousands catering to many different

types of issues going on in the world today. The picture

on the left is an ad done by The United Nations Entity for

Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. They

showed some of the searches that have been made. This

picture speaks louder than words. With all the Leisl said, I

think that this picture is prove wrong because of how

strong of a women Leisl is. She is a strong and confident

woman. She is kind to all those she interacts with. She is

someone that has beat the odds and is continuing to

support other women. She wants everyone to be aware

that women are not treated equally and that it should

change.

Works Cited

Figure 2 https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fe6%2F65%2F6b%2Fe6656b0044174c7fdf8e7b5819d250c5.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fsokos%2Fadvertising%2F&docid=tOyoK51jwcZBYM&tbnid=NnxInKBdyfYWSM%3A&vet=1&w=600&h=849&bih=746&biw=1524&ved=0ahUKEwivnLv0ypHTAhUBDGMKHXgVCGkQxiAIFygD&iact=c&ictx=1#spf=1

Ambedkar, B. R. Brainy Quote. 6 April 2017. quote. 6 April 2017.

Morris, Leisl. Interview. Allison Campbell. 16 March 2017.