Kill All Men

Er, no thank you. As they say, some of my best friends are men. Nevertheless, this seems to be the imagery that some people associate with when it comes to feminism. I read an article in the Business Herald today (OMG, why?) about compulsory quotas in boardrooms. As I understand it, there are some countries, Norway for one, that enforce by law that a certain proportion of executives be female. None of these laws dictate that this proportion should be over 50%. But the picture that the Herald put in with the article…

A woman trampling men. To death. Excuse moi? What is happening here?

Just so we are clear, I do NOT want to kill all men, nor do I want to kill any man. Yes, feminist sci-fi writers have dabbled with this idea, but only as a thought experiment: What would the world look like if there were no men? Tragically, fantastically beautiful, according to some. Most interesting read, but hardly a political polemic, and certainly not a reality.

The article argued that it had been proven that quotas do not benefit the economy – some study had shown 18% decrease in worth, which I cannot begin to decipher. It does go on to show barriers that keep women from fulfilling their potential, such as their lack of confidence and shy use of “relationship capital”. But I cannot help but think that this is a ruthlessly economic view of the world. Certainly, economic interests are of the same tapestry as social interests. But what of the humanitarian interests? Surely, this should weigh as much as, or even more than, the economic ones.

I like to think of men and women coming together in boardrooms all over the world to co-operate. Is this not what they are meant to do anyway? Work together to earn profit for the companies and shareholders? What is their job if it is not this?

What it is not is a war of the sexes. What it is certainly not is a war of the sexes that women are winning. Women still get paid less than men, men still far outnumber women in executive positions. So why the hate? Make love, not war, people. We have been through this already.

Reading is Fun,

KK.