The story behind the frame
If we're the problem, we'll be the solution.
When Pennsylvania representative Scott Barger described women in their mid-40s as “problematic” to hire in a discussion about menopause accommodations, it put a familiar bias into words. We decided to take the word back.
Women of the SWELL Incubator in Seattle are turning a dismissive label into a collective statement. We believe midlife women can own the word, stand together, and refuse to let someone else decide the value of our experience.
We're not waiting to be hired. We're building the businesses we want to be part of — on our own terms, without making ourselves smaller to fit someone else's bias.
This moment started with the women of The SWELL in Seattle — but we'd love every problematic woman to join us.