Gender equality may not be the way forward - New Straits Times

Gender equality may not be the way forward

Even just the heading of this article promised a controversial, if not right out outraging, read. I was not disappointed. The author sets the scene by informing the reader about the persisting existence of sexism, using the examples of Hollywood and the recent scandal concerning the Nobel Prize for Literature. Oddly enough, and though the author seems to condemn these acts, he still manages to seriously suggest that we should not be aiming for gender equality.

Interestingly, he calls out the West for engaging in practices that discriminate against women in the workforce in terms of salary and opportunity. Malaysia, in his view, is very different and that is because, for example, “the Malaysian civil service in general does not practise salary discrimination nor does it implement a policy of opportunity discrimination”. It seems he is suggesting that just because there is no active implementation of discrimination, discrimination does not exist. I wonder how many Western countries’ civil service departments have policies like these in place that make the author think that Malaysia is unique in being able to avoid the problem through good policy-making.

The author seems to be careful not to be offensive, using words and phrases like “perceived to be”, “might” and “to my knowledge”. Still, he makes his points quite clear, employing at times strikingly blatant statements like “Most Malaysian researchers are in the civil service, so the gender pay gap does not exist” or “Men do not take maternity leave” (I give him that - I believe they call it paternity leave).

His core argument is the following: Since men and women are different, calling for gender equality is not the solution. The focus of his article is on the “knowledge workers”, especially people employed in research and the civil service. In connection with this, I cannot help but wonder what “differences” exactly he is talking about. Is he implying that there are different intellectual capabilities divided along gender lines? This would be very easy to disprove. If he is not referring to this, though, then what do the differences matter in a profession that is not in any way based on physical properties?

The solution he offers is putting women into more precarious work situations – paying them based on achievement rather than hours (so as to be able to minimise losses when women leave because of pregnancy).

I believe this may not be the way forward.

Source: https://www.nst.com.my/education/2018/08/403985/gender-equality-may-not-… 17 Sep 2018