Women's Views on News |
- Club slammed for offering free entry to women who show their cleavage
- More women wanted in manufacturing
- What would an equal future look like?
| Club slammed for offering free entry to women who show their cleavage Posted: 27 Mar 2013 07:00 AM PDT
MP Tracey Crouch has branded the up-coming three-day ‘National Cleavage Weekender event’ in Kent as “degrading.” “This is disgusting and degrading to women, particularly at a time when we’re trying to do such good work to improve the body image of women of all shapes and sizes,” Crouch, the Tory MP for Chatham and Aylesford, told Huffington Post UK. The Casino Rooms Nightclub in Rochester, Kent, recently advertised its “National Cleavage Weekender” to host about 1, 500 people . The poster which had pictures of women in revealing outfits, read: “Free entry for exposed cleavage b4 11pm on any night! Only at Kent’s biggest & breast party venue.” The event set for Thursday April 4 till Saturday April 6, has exposed the Blue Boar Lane nightclub to criticisms from government ministers and a few students in the area. Labour MP Diane Abbott branded it as "everyday sexism” and Labour councillor Vince Maple said it "sent the worst message." Medway student Michelle Gleaves wrote off the event on student site the Medwire. “Yes there are benefits. You get free entry before 11pm if you get your knockers out. “But, personally, I don’t fancy paying with my dignity instead thanks.” “Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t a case of me thinking that women shouldn’t get their lady cushions out if they fancy it. “Low cut tops really aren’t the big deal here. “It’s the fact that there is a whole entire event based around cleavage, and it’s male bouncers deciding whether or not I have dressed appropriately to qualify for reduced entry prices,” she said. Sharon Abbeywell, 42, said the event was debasing. "The thought of getting free entry for exposing your breasts to save £3 is disgraceful. "Girls around here are bad enough, without encouraging them to save money by getting their boobs out.” James Hartwell, 27, who lived in the area said: “I’m all for a bit of fun, but this is just taking things too far – girls will end up going along wearing barely a stitch just to save a few quid.” The Club owner, Aaron Stone said despite the criticisms, the event would hold as scheduled. "It's a celebration of the female form. It's a little bit cheeky, but I'm not apologising for that." Aaron who is known to have ran pole-dancing nights with £250 prizes for clubbers who strip, said there it was just to have a bit for everyone. “We will still be going ahead with the weekend.”  |
| More women wanted in manufacturing Posted: 27 Mar 2013 04:00 AM PDT
The manufacturers' organisation highlighted the lack of women working in manufacturing in its first ever 'FTSE 100 – Women in Manufacturing' report, which was released last week. Women make up just 23 per cent of the manufacturing workforce and 19 per cent of manufacturing directorships. Furthermore, only one in ten engineers are female and some FTSE 100 manufacturing companies, including Croda International plc and Melrose Industries plc, have no women on their boards. Terry Scuoler, the CEO of EEF, explained these statistics in the report, which was produced in partnership with Cranfield School of Management and sponsored by Lloyds TSB Commercial. He wrote: “The reasons are complex and include subject choices made at school, careers advice, the image of manufacturing and in some cases, the fact that women still bear a greater share of family and domestic responsibilities outside of work.” GCSE and A-Level choices are particularly significant as these determine what degree can be studied at university. According to EngineeringUK, 91 per cent of women forgo a career in engineering by not choosing to study a triple science GCSE. There could not be a more different situation in China, the world's industrial leader, where more than a third of engineers are female. Richard Holden, Head of Manufacturing at Lloyds TSB Commercial, believes that the UK can only achieve a similar level of industrial success as China if more women work in manufacturing. He commented: “If the UK economy is to fulfil its potential, we need to challenge the male dominance in the manufacturing industries. “Women are a valuable untapped talent and we cannot continue excluding half of the population from exploring successful careers in the sector.” The report claims that manufacturing firms would also benefit from more females in the workforce. Dr Ruth Sealy, Deputy Director of Cranfield's International Centre for Women Leaders, urged that “companies with more diverse boards demonstrate greater corporate governance, better decision-making, are more innovative and creative and have greater access to the widest talent pools.” The EEF Information & Research Team interviewed five women who are on the boards of FTSE 100 manufacturing firms to investigate how to achieve gender balance in the industry. They found that these firms need to progress female employees into senior roles more readily and work with schools to challenge assumptions that manufacturing is dull and only a career for men. The women also agreed that mentoring programmes would make a real difference. Anne Minto, Non-executive Director of Shire plc and Tate & Lyle plc, believes that mentoring would give women the skills to apply for senior positions, as well as a much needed confidence boost. She said: "Sometimes people just need to be told you can actually do this!" The EEF further recommended that manufacturing firms should be more flexible to accommodate women who have children and that teachers need to give sound career advice and guidance. Nevertheless, the EEF found that progress is being made towards gender balance. Women are securing 36 per cent of new manufacturing directorships and FTSE 100 manufacturing companies have a higher than average number of women on their boards. Furthermore, women in these companies account for 8 per cent of executive directorships, which compares favourably to the 6 per cent of women executive directors in the FTSE 100 as a whole. Dr Sealy remarked that "it is encouraging to see that the manufacturing firms are not slipping behind overall" but cautiously advised that “we need to maintain the pace of change.”  |
| What would an equal future look like? Posted: 27 Mar 2013 02:00 AM PDT
Chief Executive Ceri Goddard, welcomes visitors to the new website which marks the beginning of a “major new phase of our work for UK women's equality and rights, one that will see us expand our presence firmly into today's digital sphere and literally change the face of Fawcett's campaigning.” Fawcett is the UK's leading campaigning organisation for women's equality and rights – at home, at work and in public life. The Fawcett Society was started in 1866 by Millicent Fawcett, one of the leaders in the UK campaign for women's suffrage. However, nearly 150 years later, Goddard points out that progress has been slow, and “we seem in many areas to be facing something far worse – a backwards move.” Fawcett's current campaign focus is on women and the economy; women and power; and stagnation in the advancement of equality due to the “political culture and system that too often views women's equality as a fringe issue to be dealt with by someone else.” Goddard calls for action, saying that “After the hard fought struggles of the women who came before us, we must not be the generation that sees the change they started, undone, that accepts fine words over real action. No, we must be the opposite; we must use the fact that we are, because of them, in a stronger position than ever to hold those in power to greater account.” One of Fawcett's new initiatives is the Future Female programme which aims to generate “a stronger vision of what a more equal future could look like,’ including finding ways ‘to accelerate the pace of change.” The programme will host a number of different events, bringing together leaders from a variety of sectors and professions. Visitors to the redesigned website will find a new layout, more images used throughout and a number of different ways to get involved and learn more about what is happening. The Campaigns and Issues section brings all the campaign information together, along with additional data on a variety of other issues affecting women's equality. The Power Watch page showcases work being done to bring about parliamentary change. And the Resources section provides a catalogued library of Fawcett's work: “All the shareable, printable, downloadable goodies we have’ and is searchable by topic or type of resource.” Ways to get involved include joining the organisation, supporting a campaign, buying a t-shirt, fundraising and joining a local group. Funded by a grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the work done on the website is part of Fawcett's broader redevelopment of its online communications and strategy. As one member says, "I want what I think to count."  |
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