Comments on: Women in the Workplace: Just Who is Oppressing Whom?

By: Melanie

Melanie — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:37:11 +0000

This is a very balanced and welcome comment on most of the workplaces I have experienced. Thank you. I work in an environment where the girls set the culture and place very subtle but unrelenting pressure on those female members of staff who are a bit individual or who don’t follow the crowd and these individuals either leave or sink into the background. However my male boss who has great integrity and is aware that everyone has something to offer or a niche to fill, very gently overrides that culture and the quiet sneering of the girls and provides everyone with an opportunity to contribute as well as to advance in accordance with their skills. In some ways the girls maintain a sort of social stability and predictability and my male boss lifts people up and over that barrier without fear of social exclusion. At our best, men and women are complimentary and there are myriad ways in which we can work together. But sometimes those girls can be very mean!!
Melanie Anson

By: Garth

Garth — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 02:57:21 +0000

Where there are humans there is discrimination.

I have experienced some very controlling women in managerial positions, and as a generalisation their insecurities tend to affect their management ability more than with men.

I have also seen some extremely talented women who found it more difficult to get where they are because of their sex, but in general the spotlight has gone off women and they are accepted for what they bring to the workplace.

Also workplace influencers, the core band of people who set the tone and culture of a company, are more often women than men because of their more developed social peer pressure techniques. I personally have found that women were the ones that controlled the culture of the workplace groups I was part of, and made it enjoyable or distasteful to work at each particular company, and in each case there was a definite pecking order among the women not necessarily determined by rank within the company.

One day we’ll learn that women and men are actually different and there’s no such thing as absolute equality since we have different parts to play, with different core drives and motivations. The sooner we get away from warring between the sexes to looking to work to our strengths the better.
Garth Penglase

By: andrew lake

andrew lake — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:10:56 +0000

Well done Bill!

We need to remember that there are many conflicting issues when trying to advocate equality of opportunity.

I am always personally intrigued to observe people’s interactions in a workplace where it is obvious that some play by different “rules” to others.

It has reminded me that as fresh undergraduates back in a famous UK university 20 years ago, myself and a couple of friends went off to join the women’s advocacy group (amonmgst other clubs/societies) and where promptly shown the door because we were male and therefore our support was not welcome.

I might add that the two best managers I ever had in the workplace were women.

Andrew Lake

By: Joshua Ferrara

Joshua Ferrara — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 06:51:08 +0000

Its like the drunk who was staggering home after a night out. He fell into the gutter on the left of the road and he got all wet. He got up determined not to fall again, got as far away from the left gutter…. that is untill he fell into the right gutter.

There is definatly a positive and truthful element to the feminist movement, but like any movement there are librals, moderates and extremeists. I think in many ways the feminist movement has gone way to far to the detriment of the concept of manhood and womanhood.

And i think the article is right – much of the problem is the misplace of blame. The feminist might do better to look in the miror before she points her finger.

Remove the blank from your own eye first, then you can see clearly enought to remove the splinter from your friend’s eye.

Joshua Ferrara