While raging against Abbott, the PM voiced our silent rage - The Punch

The sex wars which erupted in federal parliament last week are only the tip of the iceberg of a deep vein of discontent in society about the difficulties facing both women and men as they juggle work and family.

In an extraordinary 15 minute speech last Tuesday, Australia?s first female Prime Minister gave voice to the silent rage of generations of Australian women.

The rage of grandmothers who wonder, if not for society?s undervaluing of their abilities, if could they have been chief financial officer of a major company instead of running the books of the family business.

The rage of baby boomer mothers who, having cleared their nests of children, can only now look back and ask the question ?what did I really want to do with my life?? only to realise it may be too late.

The rage of the daughters of the feminist stalwarts who were told from an early age we could be anything we wanted to be, only to discover with a jolt the reality that the Australian workplace is far from the gender-equal nirvana we were led to believe.

Legal barriers to gender equality in the workplace may be long gone, but the subtle barrier of sexism and more practical barriers of inadequate childcare remain. And I, like Gillard, am offended by the results.

I am offended that in 2012 you can count on one hand the number of female CEOs of Australia?s top 200 companies listed on the stock exchange: Gail Kelly of Westpac, Kerrie Mather at Sydney Airports Corporation, Katie Page at Harvey Norman, Alison Watkins a Graincorp and Chua Sock Koong at Singapore Telecommunications.

I am offended that women hold just 14.6 per cent of board seats in Australian companies, up only minimally over the past decade. I am offended that 55 of Australia?s top 200 companies have no female presence on their boards at all.

I am offended by the stubbornly persistent gap between male and female full time earnings of 17.5 per cent, up slightly form 15.9 per cent in 1994.

I am offended by the undervaluing of the critical care work performed mostly by women. I am offended that an entry level zoo keeper tending to animals earns more per hour ($19.50) than an entry level care worker looking after our elderly ($15.90), according to a Productivity Commission report.

I am offended that childcare costs in Australia make it all but prohibitive for many women to return to work after childbirth.

I am offended that women are still forced to assume the lion?s share of responsibility for care of children.

I am offended by the view of motherhood as some intense, spiritual journey of intense emotions that only those who have ?been there? can tell and no woman ever quite recovers from.

I am offended by the view that women who choose careers over family are heartless, mercenary workaholics.

I am offended by the belief that only women can tend to the needs of a crying, pooing baby. On behalf of men, I am offended by the belief that they can?t provide the same nurturing love and affection of a mother.

On behalf of men, I am offended that many face scorn, derision and sly jokes in the workplace if they opt to take flexible working arrangements.

Rage is one thing. But rage is only useful if it can be harnessed to provide solutions to the problem at hand.

It?s time for a national conversation about better balancing the needs of men and women in work and at home. It?s time to identify the barriers that keep men away from their children and women locked out of the top echelons of business.

It?s time to reflect on how at same time our work lives became more intense - with mobile phones, iDevices and 24 hour emails ? we also managed to make parenting more intense, with more homework and pressure for extra-curricular activities.

Something?s gotta give.

It?s time to move beyond words to actions. It?s time to provide decent and affordable childcare for all parents. It?s time for workplaces to provide flexible working arrangements and actively encouraged men as well as women to take them up. It?s time to stamp out the sexism that keeps women from power and men from their children.

It?s time to start creating the workplaces and homes that will enable both men and women to flourish at home and at work.

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Source: http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/While-raging-against-abbott-the-PM-voiced-our-silent-rage/

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