If there is one thing I can't stand it's gender politics. National has a new champion of the cause, Jackie Blue. Here she is demanding an answer:
While my heartfelt congratulations goes to all those New Zealanders who received a New Year Honour, I’m personally disappointed that women were under represented says, National's Women's Affairs spokeswoman, Dr Jackie Blue.
"While women make up just over half of the population, a little over one third of the awards went to them. We need to know why this is the case."
Because, whoever compiles the list didn't sit down with a quota saying, give her an award over him for no other reason than we need to dish them out 50/50.
Perhaps this is how National plans to attract women voters from the left.
Or could it be that fewer women have a wife to manage the Economic Family Unit while they pursue greater successes in the public sphere?
ReplyDeleteRight. Women are tied to the kitchen sink by their apron strings. I have stretchy ones so I can reach the computer.
ReplyDeletePerhaps we could have Honours for Housework to redress the balance.
Is there something intrinsically laughable about Honours for Housework, or for example, child-rearing? Sorry, I missed it.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a child you owe it to that child to rear it well. You don't have to be put on a pedestal for it.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is desirable for any person to excel in her or his primary sphere of activity? If this is the case, then why should excellence in care-work performed for others be any less valuable than supposed excellence in, for example, being a billion-dollar Hollywood film director?
ReplyDeleteHowever, my original point was that women still perform the great majority of care-work, and the incessant nature of this work surely makes it harder for them to attain great success in other fields.
I remember Helen Clark, who is certainly no heroine of mine, saying some time ago that she would never be where she is if she was not childless.
or hetrosexual!
ReplyDelete