There was a prominent story in The Australian yesterday that would have grabbed a fair bit of attention.
Its headline screamed, “Businessmen say women lack ambition”.
Then, a little further down, was this actual quote:
“Women’s “lack of ambition’’ was blamed by 19 per cent of men and 13 per cent of women, in the poll of 1000 professionals by workplace consultant Positive Leaders.”
So what this means is that the vast majority of men surveyed don’t believe women lack ambition at all. And the small minority of men that do are fairly well matched with women who believe the same thing themselves.
Given this, I’ll let you decide whether the poll results warranted the attention-grabbing title.
But in fairness to the journalist, Natasha Bita, it’s often the editors who write the headline. She was also the only journalist who was brave enough last year to report on the evidence produced on this website proving that parental leave is being paid out for abortions after 20 week’s gestation. So she does deserve some slack.
Anyway, my interest in this story was not so much what the headline said, but what the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick, had to say below it.
And on the topic of the workforce, she spoke thus:
“The system has been designed with men in mind.”
This is probably the first time in my life I have been in whole-hearted agreement with Ms Broderick.
Yes. The workforce and work and companies and business and everything that goes with it has been designed for men. I agree wholeheartedly. How astute of this esteemed woman.
Unfortunately, our short-lived mutual concurrence ended there because the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner also had this to say:
“It’s that model that needs to change — not the women.”
And this is where all sensible people beg to differ.
The world of work has been designed for men because it is a male-dominated environment. And it will always be a male-dominated environment for a very good reason: ambitious women are often too busy with the far more important task of creating the next generation to waste their time in a dingy office meeting some relatively unimportant deadline.
To put it another way, males are just not equipped to carry a pregnancy, give birth, or breast feed. That also means their ‘careers’ are not ‘disrupted’ to the same extent as women. That’s why men do better at work than women.
Complaining about the male-dominated workforce is like complaining about too much oestrogen in a maternity ward.
Yes, there is room for males in the birthing suite, but they will always play second-fiddle to women because that is just the way things are. And although there are notable exceptions in the workplace, men will always rule the roost there.
There’s no point arguing about this general fact of life. There’s no point complaining. And it is absurdly ridiculous to try and change the ‘work system’ when the ‘womb system’ cannot be modified. Especially when people like Ms Broderick bluntly demand that women remain unchanged.
And you can call me a traditionalist, or a male chauvinist pig, or a sayer of sensible truths for pointing out this fact of life. I really don’t care. Whatever I am labelled, it will make no difference to reality.
This does not mean that men are better than women, nor does it mean women are more worthy. It just means that they complement each other. Furthermore, I am not suggesting for a second that women shouldn’t have jobs or that they can’t contribute in the workplace. Individually they can and do. Nor am I saying that every woman should be raising children.
But collectively, women are in the baby business. It’s something that they deserve much more credit for. And it is precisely for this reason that they should be well educated. Intelligent mums are the best things for little bubs.
This point is worth labouring.
Our entire society’s future is based on the sacrifice that women make to have children.
And I’m glad that Commissioner Elizabeth doesn’t want women to change because if they stopped doing this, the world would literally end. In about 80 years.
Actually, that’s pretty much what is happening in Japan. It is simply shutting down. And much of the rest of the world is following in its footsteps.
When societies collapse, economies fail. And in today’s material world where everyone is a material girl, that’s really all that anyone seems to care about.
Which is also absurd.
Getting upset about a broken economy when society is imploding around you is like complaining about the lack of food service from the stewards on a 747 with an engine fire.
And pretending that incentives encouraging women into the workforce will address the problem of the ageing population is like arguing that borrowing to pay the interest bills is a good idea.
In a society that no longer believes children are priceless, it’s going to be hard to keep them coming. But it would help if an economic value was placed on motherhood. It’s basically the only thing in the world that is considered worthless.
Here’s two very quick but depressing examples.
Mothers who stay home to raise their children are deemed to be without value. But childcare workers have unions and strikes and wage rises and rallies. Their efforts are included in GDP.
And mothers who stay home to give the next generation the very best chance are scorned. But the emissions a cow makes in some dusty paddock are calculated, valued and monetised.
It’s pretty insulting.
When motherhood is undervalued, by extension women are too. They are treated like slaves.
And that’s exactly what the maternity leave scheme does. It treats women like cogs who should breed in their spare time and then get back to work.
The Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner should think about that. And also about whether the undoubted talent, ambition and intelligence of women is best served by forcing them to compete with men in a male-dominated environment.
There is no dignity in this.
Furthermore, Australia would be much better off if women were truly given the freedom and support to choose whether they want to use their skills and ambition climbing the corporate tree, or put them to use building a family tree.
July 10, 2014
Very good points on dignity, the lack of value given to women especially about women being used as breeders and cogs in the machine. Equally salient points on the nature and current transition of society in regards to children.
Also good summary about freedom of choice.
I’m a feminist christian home based mother, scholar and community worker.
May 24, 2014
The news the other night had two pieces about the low percentage of women in particular groups. In one they comprised just 5% of the group and in the other group they comprised 13%. There was no mention of any concern about the bias towards men in the first 95:5 group and the story was about the government deciding nothing needed doing but in covering the 87:13 group the news story went on to report on measures being taken to get a higher representation for women.
The first story was about the government deciding not to build a separate prison for women in the ACT on account of the gender imbalance and the second was about taking measures to get more women into engineering courses in Australia.
If as Ms Broderick and her ilk (e.g. the former Queensland Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Ms Bryce) would appear to believe, i.e. that an under-representation of females in a subset of the population as being attributable to a systemic unfair bias against women, seemingly supported in this attitude by media reporting then why are they not concerned in the slightest about systemic bias against women in the prison population?
These women at the top of the work pile are quite happy with men far outnumbering women in the gutter, but are unhappy with men outnumbering women at the top of the work pile. Hypocrites.
May 24, 2014
Broderick is a raving man hating feminist and hates anything to do with men, most especially fathers. She will ensure, while ever she has that job, that no man or father ever sees the light of equality. I’m not sure, but there is a possibility that she is a member of the very much evil radical feminist organisation called Emily’s List, where virtually all Labor female politicians are members. In fact, Julia Gillard was a foundation member of the Australian chapter of this most abhorrent organisation.
Feminism is an intrinsic evil and it has never had any reason to exist! Think about it. Because feminists have achieved nothing in this world. Everything that women have today, has been given to them by men who care about them. Feminists say that men are a waste of space and superfluous to the needs of women.
Really!
I advocate that every single man on this planet, remain at home and do nothing for a whole month. Not one man or boy on this planet to lift a finger and do a thing, except feed himself and his children in the most basic way.
You will see the whole world as we know it come to a grinding halt and there will be millions of deaths worldwide. Women will never be able to fill these roles, because they are completely incapable of doing so, plus the vast majority would never do it, because women don’t like to get dirty.
Feminists need to realise that this world has been given to the rule of men. Evil men currently rule this world on behalf of their god who also lives on this planet. Satan!
Women or feminists, are simply the current tool being used by Satan to do his dirty work. Once he has succeeded, he will discard feminists in the manner that they currently consider men to be. Trash!
Feminists have been crying about the lack of women in corporate positions for a long time. They demand that 50% of top jobs go to women. Okay, so where are the qualified women to fill these jobs?
There are none!
Feminists want women who do not deserve to be in these jobs, to be given them without merit, just as many other areas of society, which includes the Armed Forces are being dumbed down, just so women are able to meet some weakened criteria and so that the quotas can be met. This is happening in every western nation.
It sickens me to the core that we now have Communism alive and well in this country under the name of Feminism.
Do a cursory search on Google and you will find where the feminism of today comes from and what it stands for. This form of feminism originated with Lenin, and Stalin was the first to put it into practice to destroy society and emasculate all the men. Very successful political strategy!
Their most important tenet is to destroy the family, then to radically change society to give women full control and superiority over men. They have almost realised this goal today!
What was it Lenin said? I think it was something along the lines of, “To destroy society, first you must destroy the family!”
I have this vague memory of someone very important way back in 1917 who said that if Russia was not consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart, it will spread its evil throughout the world.
Well, we all know Russia has never been consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the manner of Her request, we know that Communism is still very much alive and well, but underground in Russia and we know that it is still spreading its evil throughout the whole world.
When will the Holy Father in Rome have the courage to fulfill this request, IN the manner Our Lady requested, which will then relieve this world of the evil that currently has it writing in agony.
May 26, 2014
The consecration was indeed carried out as Our Lady requested. It was not done in an effective, timely manner, however. Had it been done sooner, who knows? But it has definitely been done.
May 26, 2014
Well said Peter, and you would probably know that political correctness is straight out of the good old communist hand book as well.The only thing dead about communisim is the word.
May 23, 2014
As a former fema-nazi, I mostly agree with what you say.
I’ve seen in my own industry(IT) this continuous push for allowing women to be in the workplace equally to men, which actually requires special privaledges for women due to their own inherent biological nature. Such as the idea of part time executives and management positions. Even friends of mine who are working mums, lament how unfair it is that the woman who works 30 hours per week, cannot get promoted because she can’t work full-time.
These are educated, intelligent women.
How could some-one work 30 hours a week hope to fullfill the role of a manager who works 40 hours, plus the usual unpaid(officially) 20 hours+ of overtime? They say, well then perhaps men SHOULDN’T work those hours, perhaps men should LEARN to have a work life balance. In other words, when women can’t compete, they must ensure men are lowered in their value and capabilities.
Perhaps women need to begin to realize, that without productive people, there is no material wealth, there is no healthcare and schools, there is nothing, but an incredibly hard slog…an unnecessary one.
The lack of gratitude in women today is appalling. I can say that without prejudice because I was one of them. We destroyed the family unit and craved a working life, only to find when we want a child, we are too old, too tired, too broke, no decent men( /facepalm) and that we have to put our babies into childcare to be able to pay the mortgage.
Motherhood is far worse now, than it was in the past and it is something most women still desire. Gosh the feminist got so much wrong. I’m 40, married but no children. I’m not bitter, but I’ll do everything I can to ensure that younger women don’t make the same mistakes as me. And to think…I once believed I’d have 6….at a bare minimum.
May 24, 2014
Annie, it’s even worse – and more ridiculous, in a very sad and pathetic fashion – than that to which you allude. I was speaking to a female friend of mine recently, We were discussing life in general, as it pertains to women. She told me of a friend of hers. Her friend – a woman – works in childcare. A large part of the salary earned by her friend goes to pay the childcare bill for her own child. That’s right: her friend drops her child off in the morning at childcare, so that she can then go to mind other women’s children in a different childcare centre, in order to pay the woman who looks after her child. What a complete waste of time and effort! We live in a society of fools whose rules are prescribed by tools.