What bothers me are the feminists who keep on insisting that we are victims, we are weak and dependent on men for our fulfillment, BS! Enter our favorite victim....
Women still have a long way to go
Belinda Stronach
International Women's Day, first commemorated almost 100 years ago, is a time to celebrate a century of achievement and advancement for women in Canada.
But it also serves as an annual reminder that pride in this progress cannot make us complacent before the issues that affect women in their everyday lives.
Women with young daughters know the mixed emotions that can stem from conversations about the rights and relative status of women. So many young people today hold the belief that the battle for equality has been well and truly won.
This is encouraging because it means they themselves are encountering few obvious systemic obstacles or barriers.
Alright, I will admit right out that I never liked Belinda as either a Conservative or a Liberal, so I might be biased in thinking this is such a fluff piece that REAL women should be embarrassed. I always thought she was in politics because her father wanted her in there, and that the power brokers misread the political climate. They thought that the Liberals would win in 2006, therefore the floor crossing. Comments in () are mine.
First, we need to understand that the price of our century of achievement is the need for vigilance. (This does not make sense, the price of success? If you have succeeded, the price is zero.) The recent decision of the federal government to weaken provisions relating to pay equity for Canada's federal public servants demonstrates how tenuous some of our victories may be. If we are silent on this issue, it will become easier for governments to ignore the voices of women. (True Liberal blather, says nothing but sounds good. Pay equity already is the law. Equal pay for equal work is the law. Equal pay for a secretary versus a firefighter, is not and can not ever be law. What a can of worms that would be! I am a woman and therefore I deserve to be paid the same as a doctor even though I didn't bother to go to school and get my degree, but hey, a burger flipper deserves the same pay as a doctor don't you know?)
Second, we need to encourage policies and build institutions that help to empower the equal treatment of women. Among other things, that means stepping up the pressure on governments to make a priority of implementing quality and affordable child care right across our country. (Daycare does NOT empower women, it makes us weaker, ask any Mom if they WANT to put their children in daycare!) It is distressing that at a time of massive government spending in the name of stimulus, there has been little public pressure on Ottawa to fund a system of child care and early learning, an investment that would create jobs in the short-term but would pay off again down the road in the form of better educated children and more successful women in the workforce.
As I was reading this article, I actually felt sorry of Belinda, if she and other feminists actually think that daycare empowers women, they are so wrong. It takes away from a woman's ability to be there to raise their own children instead of some stranger who might not have the same values as they do. The best solution for moms/dads is to be able to stay home with their babies, if that is not possible then family and friends/neighbours should be the next alternative, daycare should be the last resort, not the first. I wonder if Belinda put her kids in a daycare?
What is most astounding are the comments, remember this is the Toronto Star, the posters are not buying the "poor me" garbage, pay attention to the agree/disagree numbers.
Ms. Stronach!
It would be GREAT to see you back in the House of Commons as a member! Please!!!
Submitted by greatgodfrey at 10:05 AM Sunday, March 08 2009
* Agree * | * Disagree 15 * | * Alert a moderator
Woman's Work
Wage parity will be achieved when women accept good paying jobs like: road asphalt layer, roof tar applicator, high steel construction, sewer repair, fork lift operate, dump truck driver, iron ore miner, hydro transition tower repair, water and sewer repair, carpenters, bricklayers, electricians, concrete formers. All pay women the same as men. Go for it. Or are they just too hard and dirty to contemplate?
Submitted by builder.m at 10:04 AM Sunday, March 08 2009
* Agree 10 * | * Disagree 3 * | * Alert a Moderator
Oh Man
Speaking as a man Pay equity is just the government trying to meddle in the market place. If a woman wants to be a fire"person" they get paid the same as a man. If a man wants to be an office assistant they get paid the same as a woman. Trying to say that a certain job has the same value as another job therefore the pay should be the same is stupid. It is trying to artificially increase or decrease the value of the job by some set of rules made up by some Star Chamber the market should decide what a job is worth. As for politics like always the "Belinda" never sees the forest through the trees. Guess what; I looked at the make up of the council and school boards in my city and women far out number men. Just because women don't want! to go to the show does not mean they are not involved in politics. Local politics effects peoples lives far more than provincial and federal and at least in my city it is dominated by women.
Submitted by Geoff at 9:29 AM Sunday, March 08 2009
* Agree 7 * | * Disagree 4 * | * Alert a moderator
Seems like during INTERNATIONAL Women's Day, Belinda might have mentioned the women of Afghanistan who are truly fighting for their independence and equality. Feminists are too selfish to actually fight for women who need help.
