Press TV; Racism in Europe; &.. Gender Equality

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Is Gender equality a myth?

I attended a recent lecture on gender & discrimination where it was discussed that; whilst some men earned £36 an hour, some of the lowest paid women were earning £6.78...

In terms of economic inactivity,( where the women neither work or claims benefits) 79% of them were of Bangladeshi background, 42% Africa, 29% Caribbean and 25% white...

As I said then, this could mean several things... either that their husbands are so rich that they don't need to work, or culture dictates that the women's position is in the home, even if the husband earns very little (if anything)

It's a difficult one... but when you look at those stats again and equate it to ill health etc... it may be possible to work out which is which..


Also (which possibly isn't news) it turns out that when a man has children it has no impact on his career whatsoever, his work life balance remains steady at 90% and rising, whereas for a woman it drops to 50% then crawls back up to 80% once the child turns 18yrs ...and on that note, whilst 61% of all lone parents in Britain are female, only 5% are male..

( Yet this is also where gender inequality gets a bit skewed in my opinion, as I don't know many women who would walk away from raising their children..)

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Anyway..
Despite being qualified men still dominate in managerial or leadership positions whereas women are over represented in adminsiative .. men on average earn more than women, same jobs, same qualifications, which is changing.. but slowly...and then... when you talk about women, you also have to talk about *race...

Gender equality is not homogeneous..
So whilst I am a woman, racial disadvantage will potentially have the greatest impact, and 'womens rights' seem reluctant, or oddly silent on that particular issue

So gender equality? .. do they mean me too?
I don't think so.
Are black women the known unknowns?
Can racism also lurk behind gender?
How would you know?

Still, this isn't a gender battle..
Women and men are fundamentally different, and there are times when the equality argument loses itself. A woman raising her children is of no less importance than a man earning millions for a FTSE company...
Question is... do you believe that?

Perhaps, that's the real argument..
It's a matter of value, where we place it, and how that value can be compensated in real terms.
What measures are in place to ensure that a woman is not disadvantaged because she has children?, or has spent time raising them? ( and in some cases supporting her husband)

I remember in France a while back a woman in Sarkozy's cabinet going back to work days after giving birth..

I wondered what she thought she was doing (I was confused.. was it some kind of women's lib stance?)or what kind of employer did she have, to have made her feel that pressure to return under those circumstances..
Did she choose it?
Who knows?.. If memory serves me correctly.. I have a feeling she got fired shortly afterwards...

Not all women have children, true..
But depending on how you see equality, it will always be equality for some, but not for all.. e.g more women in the board room doesn't necessarily equate to improved and fairer lives for women..depending on who those women are... it may simply mean... more women in the boardroom.

Anyway... I digress big time...

What I wanted to show you was this...
An independent review has been carried out by Lord Davis into women on boards and the aim is to encourage FTSE 350 companies to aim for 25% female representation by 2015... and this... was the launch...


*ethnicity

Have a nice day