45 thoughts on “Girls And Boys

      1. Lilly

        Did you even read that article? No where does it imply that women are not as committed to their careers as men.

        1. Jonotti

          Did you read it? Nearly all of these women that were expected to be high achievers packed it in when the kids came along. I see it all of the time myself or when they do keep the job they’re on autopilot, picking up a wage.

          1. St. John Smythe

            if only their men-folk would offer 50% childcare responsibility, then the women wouldn’t need to be ‘on autopilot’ so much.
            but wait, that would be emasculating.
            what was I thinking.

          2. Roger

            Read their stories, it had nothing to do with childcare. They thought, “sod this working, I’m a mother now”.

          3. Lilly

            No conclusions were drawn as to the reasons for their non-achievement. We don’t know if it was because they had been passed over for promotion repeatedly in favour of male colleagues any more than because they had children. One of the women mentioned didn’t actually have children.

      2. Andyourpointiswhatexactly

        I was head girl. I’m a total waster. Make of that what you will.

        1. Lilly

          You’re projecting again. At no point in the article are we given any information to conclude she’s a waster.

    1. Shay

      Umm, no there isn’t. There’s a bunch of women who refuse to do the dangerous, dirty jobs, or other jobs that pay more like engineering, and consequently get paid less.

      If women want to be paid what men are, I suggest they get up at 6am and stand on a building site laying brick for 10 hours in sub-zero temperatures like I did during the Celtic Tiger years (and funnily enough, I got paid damn well for it)

      But you won’t see them do that of course. Easier to bitch and moan about how they are “paid less than men” from the comfort of a nice, warm apartment (built by men) than actually be the change they want to see in the world.

      Take your pay gap lies elsewhere please.

      1. pedeyw

        The majority of workers in retail are women. 46% of the workforce are women yet they make up only 33% of managers. Are you saying what thy do is somehow less hard working than their male colleagues? Half the pay is overstating but the gender pay gap is a real thing and has nothing to do with specific jobs. I think it’s also probably safe to say there is gender bias in the construction industry too.

          1. pedeyw

            Sorry, that was me being unclear. 46% over the overall workforce is female. The majority of the RETAIL workforce is female.

          1. Don Pidgeoni

            Because full-time child care is expensive and childcare is “woman’s” work so their partners don’t help out as much. I’m sure you’d give out if they were just staying at home too.

      2. St. John Smythe

        I HAD A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE ONCE TOO, AND I ALSO BELIEVE ALL FACETS OF LIFE CAN BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO IT!!!!!1

      3. Lilly

        @ Shay – Have you any idea of the ridicule that would greet a woman seeking to work as a bricklayer?

        1. Casey

          Have you any idea how far to hell and back you can sue anyone who dared ridicule you or pick on you because of your gender ? (No matter what profession you worked in)

          http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/female-bricklayer-awarded-pounds-15000-council-employee-suffered-four-years-of-continual-sexual-harassment-and-threats-from-her-colleagues-1477059.html

          Do you know women do work as bricklayers:
          http://www.npr.org/2014/08/01/336889387/female-bricklayer-defied-doubters-to-build-baltimore-landmarks

          Come out of the 1500s and into the sunshine love…

          1. Lilly

            Yes, building sites are awash with women bricklayers. And don’t ‘love’ me you big eejit.

      4. Don Pidgeoni

        Jobs women are increasing doing but which still didn’t explain pay gaps in some industries Not sure what your point is.

  1. Paolo

    Most brands of feminism have NOTHING to do with men or the issues of men. Some feminists keep trying to push the idea that men would be better off emasculated even further than they already are.

    There are certainly inequality issues facing women in many parts of the world but not in Ireland.

    1. Lorcan Nagle

      So, did you talk to any women about their experiences of sexism and misogyny in Ireland before declaring it a safe zone?

    2. Spaghetti Hoop

      You must have very robust blinkers on if you believe there are no inequality issues here. One thing that struck me about the gay marriage campaign was the parallels with the women’s suffrage movement a century ago. Their campaign just as hearty – yet equality in all aspects of life for women has been and STILL is glacially slow.

  2. Cliona O Gallchoir

    It’s interesting that this post generated to much hostility about women moaning and whining when the post was in fact about how both men and women lose out when gender roles and expectations are too rigid and limiting, and ‘the link between feminism and the social pressures men face’. The hostility speaks to the fact that there is sexism and misogyny in Ireland. Does anyone really think women really want to have fewer economic resources and less power than men? Why would they?

    1. Caroline

      All these women, sitting on the sidelines cribbing and moaning about feminism. I don’t know why people who engage in that don’t just join Fianna Fail.

      1. Casey

        Actually I thought Cliona’s point was very well articulated, unlike yours which is très whingy.

        1. Caroline

          Hey, if you can learn to type an accent grave, you can also learn to scan comments for context and allusion.

  3. Nice Anne (Dammit)

    The word “Feminism” comes from the French word Féminisme. This was originally a set of ideas to ‘define, promote and establish the rights of women in civil society’.

    Nowhere does it (or has it ever) been about making giving women the upper hand OVER men. It is not about making sure that women are paid more than men, it is not about giving women more power than men. It is a set of ideals to make the sexes equal.

    None of this means a promotion of women above men. How could it? If women were to be more rich, powerful, influencial or controlling than men, then the ideals of feminism would have failed as equlity not advantage is the measure that feminism strives for.

    If men and women are to be made equal, as per the ideals of feminism, then where things are uneven for men, that has to be evened out too.

    Men have historically had more power and influence in society so traditional feminism (in the West) was more aimed at promoting oppertunities for women. Now that some (but not all) of those imbalances have been addressed, feminists are considering areas where imbalances exist which put men at a disadvantage.

Comments are closed.

Sponsored Link
Broadsheet.ie