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| 7 Feb 10, 8:41 PM Goddess_Magic 2 yrs |
It appears your correct! I had a memo from El Presidente clarifing that. I guess as I am new here the measure of the humour and personalities takes a while to fathom out! Having said that I can already see there are some people here who think slagging off a post is better than actually engaging with it.
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| 7 Feb 10, 9:36 PM Goddess_Magic 2 yrs |
Hiya, I agree with much of what you say. I am not seeking to deny the disadvantage women face in many parts of the world today. However, noone with open eyes can ignore the massive strides women have made in the last few decades in the developed world. I am not decrying that. I am not trying to turn back the clock back either. The empowerment of women in the workplace is a very positive development overall. Most of my managers in my working life have been female and it hasn't undermined my sense of masulinity. However my focus is more on the here and now and trends in the future of the UK. The society that members of this forum live in. Things have changed a lot even in the last 10 years but a lot Feminist assumptions still seem caught up as if we were living in the 1970's or 1980's. Although there is much talk of ongoing oppression I dont see much holding back the generation of young women who are graduating in greater number than men each year. I believe we are on the cusp of a fundamental shift in our civilisation (and the developed world generally) over the next century. As I indicated current trends make it clear women will dominate in all the professions in in just 20-30 years. I believe the 21st century will see our society gradually transformed into a matrifocal one. Why do I say that? Because the better educated, professionals tend to dominate the agenda of any society. As women make up a higher proportion of the better educated and their economic power grows their influence will increase too. In many ways I think this process is already underway. Take a look the astounding statistics in this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3179265/T... As the older generation of men retire in 30 years we will be left with women filling 60-65% of professional jobs if current trends continue. Of course in some professions like Teaching and Social work the figures are much higher. However, the proportion may be even greater as the number of male graduates is steadily declining. I have no problem with equality of opportunity. I simply wonder why boys are now being outperformed in areas that all research shows they probably have a biological advantage in like mathematics or science? I put this down to cultural factors not innate superiority of females. I would like our government to be looking at these issues and taking them seriously. However, bodies like the EHRC seem to be operating from a perspective that never sees men or boys as the those suffering disadvantage. Have you ever seen a job advert stating 'we welcome applications from men as they are currently underrepresented in our workforce'. Strange considering the fact that there are many professions where this is case isn't it? Of course the new Equality bill is meant to address this issue but I remain sceptical that many occupationsdominated by women will embrace this proactively. We shall see... You point out that women still do a lot of fairly low skilled jobs like cleaning or care work. True. So do men. How many female street cleaners have you seen? What about construction workers, window cleaners,, groundsmen/Parks , or sanitation workers? What about occupations like Teaching, Social work, NHS , Voluntary Sector where female managers predominate? You mention surgeons specifically. What about the fact that the majority of GPs are already women? From what I read women are reporting they want to consciously avoid surgery because of the working hours and childcare issues raised. I dont deny there are some areas that men outnumber women. Our politicians are one of the major occupations where female representation is lagging behind. I believe 20% of current MPs are women. However, with the Conservatives and Labour now adopting Female only lists that percentage will shoot up at the next election. There are already straws in the wind from the Scandanavian countries where women make up almost 50% of MPs. At the last Euro elections the majority of Finnish MEPs were actually female. This process will obviously not happen overnight but I do believe it is now inevitable. I am not trying to be King Canute holding back the advance of women. All I want to see is that equality laws really do work for everyone and that the growing cultural climate of misandry in our society (and across the west) is checked. Part of the solution must revolve around our education and looking at how the education system is serving or miserving boys. Increasing the percentage of male teachers at primary and secondary level seems a priority. The lack of positive, stable male role models for young boys is I feel an issue. Not least with the growth of female lone parent households.
Edited 7 Feb 10, 10:13 PM by Goddess_Magic | ||||
| 7 Feb 10, 10:07 PM ClassAct2005 UK(N), 7 yrs  |
B ut it's not happening. In my own area 25 years ago 50% of us were women but only 10% get to the top because women still marry richer men, marry up, give up work, get on to the mummy track (I@m the exception not the rule). We have not seen that 50% of early entrance resulting in 50% or more of people runing say hedge funds or being in the cabinet or leading plcs being female. When 90% of new Goldman Sachs partners are female one year and no one blinks because that's as likely as 90% of their being male then women might have got where they could be. But we'll see. It's hopeful. Most couples aren't in gender wars. I've never been with a sexist man despite being very submissive. People are people. But I don't think women should be complacent. and I do think if they keep marrying men who are a bit older and earn more (marrying up) then they will keep being the one to sacrifice career for family if that choice has to be made. So may be I did my bit for gender politics by marrying down and paying out to my ex on divorce and may be my career got as good as it got because I was the main earner even if sometimes it feels it must be easier to be a woman who just puts out and gets kept in return. | ||||
| 8 Feb 10, 12:08 AM Goddess_Magic 2 yrs |
To be blunt you are not the demographic I am really thinking about. I am really looking at women who are graduating now or over the next few decades. Of course children are always an issue couples need make a decision on in terms of who will stay at home. That is a decision couples need to decide for themselves. Its true as you say many women would like to meet a fellow graduate boyfriend of similar or greater earning potential. However, there is a dilemma here isn't there? As women increasingly advance into more positions of high earning and social status an increasing number are simply not going to find the graduate/high status males out there. This is brought out really well in this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view... (By the way I not a Telegraph reader but they have some of the best articles online!) What is the modern successful Alpha female to do? A decision to 'trade down' is probably going to be the only realistic one available to a lot of women unless they want to remain Bridget Jones types. The practical implication is that more males in those relationships will need to take over child care responsibilities. Their female partners successful careers may be too important to sacrifice. We are already seeing evidence of more of these kinds of relationships: http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_styl... I take your point on Goldman Sachs. I agree areas like the city, Business and the higher level of politics are still fairly male dominated. Although as I pointed at only 20% of politicians you cant expect radical change there until female representation in Parliament significantly increases. I Think we will see significant change in the next Parliament. I suppose the question I ponder on though is why do we always focus on the last few areas men predominate in and not the ones women enjoy an enormous numerical advantage in? It seems to be generally accepted that 'nurturing' areas like Nursing or Social Work are more female friendly occupations but its seldom suggested that more openly competitive areas like Business or the City might simply be where the more the generally more aggressive, competitive male excels. Equality of opportunity doesn't have to lead to equal results in all occupations. Similarly is womens poorer showing at CEO level entirely about discrmination and the 'glass ceiling'? Or might it be that a majority of women dont feel comfortable in that kind of role? Certainly the majority of men dont currently seem comfortable becoming Primary School Teachers, Social workers, or Nurses. Surely the ultimate logic of where we are going is that women will end up doing a majority of high status jobs in society?
Edited 8 Feb 10, 1:16 AM by Goddess_Magic |
