Men-Women Talk

There is always so much cacophonous twaddle when talking about equality for women, equal opportunities for them and all those feminist vitriol about not doing enough for women to help them excel at the work force.

Then there are all the crocodile tears about how much they have to sacrifice if they hold a high powered job, and having to leave behind their kids with nannies and halfway houses and their men should have helped more at home, and how ‘’society’’ or ‘’the government’’ or the companies should have helped more – with more child care centres, more ‘’work-life balance’’, and more pro-family policies.

Come off it – both men and women.   It’s not that these women don’t enjoy their Pradas, Porsches and Paris sprees with their hard earned money.  They do have a choice – if they want eternal ‘’bonding’’ with their kids, be there for them when they hold their first public piano performance instead of being on the plane to attend a senior management meeting, they can choose to be a full time homemaker, or opt for less demanding work.  Nobody said you need to have that high flying job.  Nobody forced you to wear that Jil Sander suit, lug that LV luggage and that Chanel laptop bag to your next big wig pow wow to secure that multi million dollar contract for the big MNC.

You want equality for women?  Start with the right mindset, and start simply.  Start with eliminating hypocrisy.  Last week the front page of the 3 August issue of the Sunday Times screamed, ‘’Feng Tianwei – she plays like a man, powered by tragedy, fear and failure.’’

They published a profile of her, which discussed her childhood training, her ‘’masculine’’ skills and mental strength as she boldly overcame tough times, etc.

Wait.  Are you saying women cannot be mentally tough and be skillful in sports?  Hasn’t it been reported ad nauseam that women are ‘’tougher mentally’’ and can cope with tragedies and crises better?  What, in sports, is ‘’masculine skill’’?!

I am not denying that women and men ARE different, physically.  That’s why in sports you have men and women’s divisions.  But to attribute her success to ‘’playing like a man’’ – it’s the biggest injustice you can do to both the men and the women. 

And you are merely reinforcing the men-women stereotyping.