Op-Ed: Women Are Being 'Erased' at Work

Joanne Lipman warns that the Trump administration's DEI crackdown is silencing discussions about women in the workplace.

Apr. 7, 2026 at 6:16pm

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A solitary figure standing alone in a dimly lit office, their face obscured by shadow, conveying a sense of isolation and erasure through the use of muted tones and cinematic lighting.As discussions of women's roles in the workplace become increasingly taboo, a growing sense of isolation and erasure threatens to undo hard-won progress.NYC Today

In a New York Times opinion piece, journalist Joanne Lipman argues that the Trump administration's diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies have led organizations and companies to go to "absurd" lengths to avoid discussing women in the workplace, risking undoing years of progress at a time when women are still underrepresented in business and public life.

Why it matters

Lipman's op-ed highlights how the current political climate has created a "toxic" environment around discussions of gender equality, with companies fearful of drawing the administration's wrath. This pattern echoes how authoritarian leaders abroad have rolled back women's rights, which Lipman warns can also undermine democracy.

The details

Lipman draws on 15 years of covering women in the workplace to raise concerns about how the "mantra 'believe women' has morphed into 'erase women.'" She points to organizations scrubbing references to "women" and "female" in grant applications, even if they focus on maternal health, due to the administration's stance that such discussions are politically charged. Lipman also notes the "stunning" refusal of the US to back a routine UN affirmation of its commitment to "gender equality."

  • Lipman's op-ed was published on April 7, 2026.

The players

Joanne Lipman

A journalist who has covered women in the workplace for 15 years and authored the op-ed in the New York Times.

President Trump

The current US president whose administration's policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are the focus of Lipman's concerns.

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What they’re saying

“But in practice, President Trump's allies have questioned whether women deserve a place in the work force at all.”

— Joanne Lipman, Journalist

The takeaway

Lipman's op-ed highlights the troubling trend of women's issues being silenced and marginalized in the current political climate, which she warns could undermine hard-won progress towards gender equality and democracy itself.