It pains me to do this, but I have to raise the gender equality issue once again. I heard on radio this week that we are not employing some essential service people because they are not women and that until the gender balance is equal, recruitment is being compromised.
An AFL club has launched a gender equality action plan. Part of its charter is to achieve a minimum 40 per cent female representation across the club and more than 40 per cent females across its men’s and women’s teams.
I am not Einstein but even I know 40 per cent is not an equal share. I wish them luck getting 40 per cent female members into their men’s teams, and I would hope they are shooting for 100 per cent in the actual women’s teams. You can make figures tell any story you like, as our politicians prove on a daily basis. Like their figures, these ones don’t add up.
Personally, I think we are missing several other areas where gender equality (GE) really needs to be addressed immediately. I have observed we do not have GE in stupidity and rudeness. Our ratio is also sadly lopsided in driving, both good and bad. There are clearly more stupid men, more rude women and – as for driving – women are overwhelmingly the worst, according to my research.
Yes, I am being frivolous – because this agenda is demeaning to the very people it is supposedly supporting. How do the people in power not see this? This needing to be seen to be doing the politically correct thing is stopping us from nurturing and developing the skills and talents of both sexes. At least we have got our stuff-ups in gender-equal proportions.
I totally support equality in the way we treat people, the amount we pay them and the opportunities we create. Let us treat each applicant for a position equally then decide based on merit who gets the position. Seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? Hopefully the days of women having to be better, rather than as good as, are behind us. There is no doubt women do many things better than men, especially when they do it their way, and not the way the blokes do it. Be yourself, that’s what makes you different.
