Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, leader of the "Lean In" movement, has made it her mission to change the perception of professional women.
She started Lean In circles to bring women together, partnered with the Girl Scouts to ban the word "bossy," and in February collaborated with Getty on a stock photo project meant to break outdated stereotypes of women in the office. The collection of more than 2,500 photos features modern women in work and life. Gone are the lady bosses in shoulder pads, babies in briefcases, and sexed-up women with one too many buttons undone.
And, so far, it's been a success. In the past three months, licensing sales of the images that existed before being added to the collection went up 31% over their sales from that same period last year, according to Getty.
So how does Sandberg think modern women should be portrayed in the media? Here are a few images provided by Lean In that it says represent the collection:
Options beyond white women wearing pantsuits.
Professional women portrayed by models older than 25.
Showing working moms as cool rather than harried.
Pam Grossman, Getty's director of research and head of the Lean In project, has said that she doesn't want to be seen as the "image police" but wants to provide Getty clients with more accurate representations of the modern professional woman.
"We want to move the needle forward toward a more accepting world, and we believe that seeding the visual landscape with the right images is the key to making this happen," she said.
