Women's Views on News |
| Posted: 21 Jun 2013 07:48 AM PDT
A female minister in the UK has concluded that to fix the problem of gender inequality in corporate Britain, girls’ lives should be influenced early to ensure they are brought up as “aspirational” young women. And the minister in question, women’s minister and culture secretary, Maria Miller, has plans to introduce information packs for the parents of daughters that will offer advice on how to guide daughters through subject and career choices. Miller plans to roll out these information packs as a response to recommendations from the Women’s Business Council (WBC), established in 2012 by the government to advise on what more can be done to maximise women’s contribution to economic growth, and the focus will be on areas with the greatest potential economic impact. “Making sure women can be successful at work and in business is essential if we want a strong economy. “Encouraging women to fulfill their potential doesn’t begin when they are already working; it starts when they are young, still at school. “A vital part of future career success is the aspirations that girls have early in their lives, and the choices they make about subjects and qualifications," Miller explained in an interview with the Observer recently. “Parents are vital in helping girls make these choices, and we know that many parents want help with that. “This campaign will give parents the knowledge and confidence they need to make sure that their daughters make choices which will help them realise their ambitions.” The proposed information packs will be part of a wider government campaign to boost long-term growth by maximising the impact of women in the workplace. Among other measures, female business role models will be encouraged to visit schools and mentor girls and young women. The WBC report set out a series of recommendations on how women's contribution to economic growth through all stages of their careers could be enhanced. It revealed an untapped potential – including 2.4 million women who are not working and want to work and a further 1.3 million women who want increase their working hours. The report also maintained that equalising the participation rates of men and women in the labour market could increase economic growth by 0.5 per cent a year, with potential gains of around 10 per cent to the UK’s GDP by 2030. According to Linda Pollard, pro-chancellor of the University of Leeds and national chair of the recently launched Two Percent Club, a nationwide networking organisation that aims to boost the representation of women at board level, it is really up to women to increase their representation at the highest corporate level. “I think sometimes we do hold ourselves back,” she said. And she rejected the idea that there is a shortage of women of the right calibre to be promoted to boards. “I get quite irritated if I hear that. I come across I can’t tell you how many unbelievable women out there: there’s a plethora of them,” she said. Currently, there are just three female chief executives in the FTSE 100. The government has set a target of 25 per cent female representation in FTSE 100 boardrooms by 2015. The Two Percent Club aims to unite the current top 2 per cent of executive and non-executive women – drawn from the top of the private, public, charity and entrepreneurial sectors and representing all regions of the UK – who want to ‘support, influence and advocate the need for more skilled women from senior management through to the top of corporate UK’. That, and and help to resolve the issue of the under-representation of women at the top of corporate UK. The Two Percent Club is just one of the initiatives, along with The Pearls, and the Women’s Business Forum, ‘delivered by An Inspirational Journey as it seeks to ensure companies support and guide, retain, grow and develop the most balanced, skilled and talented teams of tomorrow to the top of the corporate hierarchy, regardless of gender.’ But recent evidence has shown that there is very little progress towards that goal, and business secretary Vince Cable has now threatened to impose quotas for women in the boardroom if the 25 per cent goal is missed. And Kate Green MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Equality, responding to the report from the Women's Business Council, said: “The Government should take note of each of [the report's] recommendations. "Instead, it has been cutting support for childcare and tax credits that help women – especially lone parents – to make work pay, introducing a universal credit system that will discourage women in couples from entering paid work, cutting maternity pay in real terms and failing to act on pregnancy discrimination. "Business leaders know that women have a valuable economic contribution to make, and that diversity contributes directly to economic success. “It's high time the Government did more to help women into male dominated careers and professions, as well as supporting women entrepreneurs, and women at every level of business – instead of making it harder for women to get on."  |
| Posted: 21 Jun 2013 04:21 AM PDT
According to the Telegraph 46 female Labour MPs and peers, including Harriet Harman, the party's deputy leader, and Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, have called upon the Prime Minister, David Cameron, to back a campaign to keep a woman on British banknotes. They have written letters to both the Prime Minister and the Bank of England's Court of Directors in a bid to reverse the decision made earlier this year to remove Elizabeth Fry from the UK’s £5 notes to be reviewed and for the Court, which is made up of the Bank of England's non executive directors, who scrutinise its decisions, to discuss the issue at its next meeting, due on 17 July. Stella Creasy, the Labour MP and a shadow home affairs minister, who has led the campaign in Westminster, told the Telegraph that the letter wasn't intended to deny Sir Winston – who has been chosen to replace Elizabeth Fry – a much deserved place on a banknote. "No one is having a pop at Sir Winston. He is a highly respected figure,” she explained. "But we are trying to draw attention to the consequences of taking Fry off. It's about the message that a total absence of women, bar the Queen, from our banknotes sends to our society." “We don't understand the Bank's decision," she continued. "We want a commitment to the public representation of women in this country, and we believe the Prime Minister should join us." Earlier this month the Bank said it would stand by its decision to remove Elizabeth Fry from the current £5 note, even after Caroline Criado-Perez, a women's rights campaigner launched an online petition – with nearly 30,000 signatures at the time of writing – to keep a woman on British banknotes. She has since, as WVoN reported, launched a legal challenge against the Bank of England, accusing them of ignoring the Equality Act. According to the Telegraph, a spokesman for the Bank of England said: "The Bank did consider the representation of women when selecting the next figure to feature on a banknote." "The selection decision was made taking into account objectively selected criteria. "Four candidates, three men a woman, were considered when Sir Winston Churchill was chosen as the historical character to appear on the next new banknote, and the female candidate was chosen as the contingency candidate." According to the Telegraph the letter, which can be read here , was signed by Kate Green MP, Stella Creasy MP, Yvette Cooper MP, Harriet Harman MP, Baroness Jan Royall, Hazel Blears MP, Tessa Jowell MP, Liz Kendall MP, Rosie Winterton MP, Baroness Glenys Thornton, Angela Eagle MP, Baroness Oona King, Dawn Primarolo MP, Emily Thornberry MP, Catherine McKinnell MP, Seema Malhotra MP, Gloria De Piero MP, Fiona MacTaggart MP, Kerry McCarthy MP, Emma Lewell-Buck MP, Diana Johnson MP, Caroline Flint MP, Heidi Alexander MP, Siobhain McDonagh MP, Rushanara Ali MP, Karen Buck MP, Luciana Berger MP, Diane Abbott MP, Valerie Vaz MP, Pamela Nash MP, Maria Eagle MP, Lisa Nandy MP, Roberta Blackman-Woods MP, Helen Goodman MP, Debbie Abrahams MP, Sharon Hodgson MP, Margaret Hodge MP, Joan Ruddock MP, Julie Hilling MP, Alison McGovern MP, Bridget Philipson MP, Jenny Chapman MP, Emma Reynolds MP, Pat Glass MP, Yvonne Forvargue MP and Sheila Gilmore MP. As Caroline Criado-Perez has said, this may seem to be a small thing, but small things add up to a toxic culture in which women are routinely discriminated against. Do not let even the small things slide.  |
| Misogyny and sexism passed off as pop Posted: 21 Jun 2013 01:09 AM PDT
They say that sex sells, and it seems that there are no boundaries to what it can sell. The music industry has been under fire in recent weeks for this very reason – think Jennifer Lopez on Britain's Got Talent, when her outfit and gyrating caused a barrage of complaints for featuring on what is – predominantly - a family show. J-Lo said afterwards that she thought the outfit entirely appropriate and Simon Cowell blamed the highly sexualised shots of her dancing on an over-zealous cameraman (no surprises there then). At the heart of the public discontent was the question of what kind or role model J-Lo was providing for young girls who might be watching. The programme makers seemed to have no such qualms. Sadly, it seems that sex in popular music has simply become mainstream. The biggest platform for pop music has, for decades, been the charts. It's how pop stars make their millions and become idols to young people across the planet. Last week's number one in the UK chart also happened to be the fastest selling single so far of 2013. It's called Blurred Lines and it's by American artist Robin Thicke, featuring Pharrell Williams and T.I. Nope, I'd never heard of them either. Until a faintly repulsed male work colleague asked whether I had heard the song, or indeed watched the video. He advised me to do so instantly. Let's talk about the video first. Wow. Basically, it's Mr Thicke and his two compadres singing a song while three to all intents and purposes naked young women walk around petting baby lambs, playing with a stuffed dog and draping themselves over the singers. Their dignity is covered only by teensy flesh-coloured knickers and nothing else. They don't sing. They don't really dance. They don't act out any particular role. They simply strut about showing off their boobs. There are other rather odd props and activities in the video. Robin himself probably describes it best: “We knew if we showed girls with their breasts out, and we got a lamb, and girls are swinging sausages and we're smoking, and I've got a needle sticking it into a girl's bum… we knew all of that was going to get a lot of attention.” In response to the inevitable accusations of sexism, Robin defended the Blurred Lines video by comparing it to classic art, explaining: “People have been painting and sculpting naked women since the beginning of time. We didn't objectify them, we just showed them in their most natural state.” He said: “If that’s sexism then so is everything inside the Louvre. “I just wanted to make a funny video like Benny Hill or something like that. The video director said, ‘What if all the girls are naked?’ I said, That could be pretty funny, that can be like Benny Hill type stuff.’” So it's art, like you might find in some of the world's best galleries, and it's also a homage to Benny Hill. Confused? I think he is. That his best defence is comparing his work to Benny Hill speaks volumes. Despite the explicit version of the video being banned on YouTube for its content, it has still managed to notch up nearly 50 million views, and the single shifted a further 199,000 copies last week – and stayed at number one. It appears that we are now so de-sensitised to blatant sexism in the music world that we have stopped noticing that there is anything wrong with it. Maybe the video is so provocative in order to draw attention away from the lyrics. Ah yes. The lyrics. They include these gems: ‘Good girl, I know you want it, I know you want it, I know you want it. You the hottest bitch in this place.’ ‘So, hit me up when you pass through, I’ll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two.’ ‘Nothin’ like your last guy, he too square for you, He don’t smack that ass and pull your hair for you. So I just watch and wait for you to salute.’ And, just in case you were in any doubt as to Mr Thicke’s general intention: ‘I’m a nice guy, but don’t get confused, you git’n it!’ This song has been number one in the UK charts. The demographic which predominantly feeds chart ratings is the 14-25 year old category. So basically we are saying to young people that this is the way to success – that objectifying women and referring to them in the most derogatory – and violent – terms, is fine, normal and artistic? The scary thing about Blurred Lines is that all the sexism, the suggested smacking down of women, the sexual exploitation and objectification is all dressed up in a catchy pop tune. If this guy really believes in his 'art' and his talent, why did he feel the need – as he has admitted – to include all the sexist paraphernalia in order to get attention? Watch the video. It's not art, it's soft porn. He practically drools his way through the song. And it's not without self-congratulation either. There is a scene where one of the naked women walks past a huge sign on the wall which says 'Robin Thicke has a big dick'. Has? Or is? You decide.  |
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