Real gender equality is recognising that we’re all in this together
For true gender equality to ever be achieved, men and women must work together to readdress the balance at home and work, writes The Royals’ Dan Beaumont.
I had no idea that International Women’s Day has been celebrated for 110 years.
It seems obvious to say we’ve come a long way since the first Women’s Day organised by the Socialist Party of America on 28 February 1909 in New York City. But when we look at the statistics, we still have a shitload to do before we achieve genuine equality: Australian women earn 14.1% less than men do for performing the same job, they do 70% of the housework and 75% of the childcare.
Why is a bloke like me (a recovering Alpha Male) telling you stuff we already know? Because, as a manager and partner in a business plus a husband and father, I recognise that I can do so much more to help women and men strike balance and ensure our society reaches true gender equality, faster.
I for one want to say thanks to you Dan. We need more of you. This has been a struggle many women are so exhausted by. It is also important that women don’t do a men bashing in the process either in ‘Diversity Oversteer’ as I call it too. So, working together is exactly what is needed. We need to aim for all tasks and buying decisions to reflect the actual population split of 50/50. Even the dominance of women as purchase decision makers is a reflection of the fact they are taking the load of the family and many men don’t see it their responsibility. Our creative work needs to stop fuelling the bias most of all so we can make the cultural shift and re-educate the community. It doesn’t stop at hiring policy in my experience – the work we produce is the biggest problem.
Thanks for this article, I’ve been saying to everyone who will listen that men need to start talking about flexibility and making it available for male and female employees to see real change.
Women working part-time hours, being paid less and doing all the childcare and housework is not progress.
if as a community we decide to value personal life as much as work-life we can work together to improve things.