White guys finish last...

Home secretary Harriet Harman has announced controversial new plans that require companies to favour ethnic minorities and women when it comes to taking on new employees. The new Equalities Bill will also seek to stop pensioners being witheld NHS treatment because of their age and allow mothers to breastfeed their kids in public.

Critics of the first of these motions have argued that the move is discriminatory against white guys. Exponents of it have said that the scales already tip in favour of their pale bodies, and that their days in the sunshine need to come to their sordid conclusion. We say that it's all a bunch of bullshit and that people should just be allowed to get on with their jobs without having some insubstantial brand of feminism confusing the issue for everybody.

“Most women are going out to work and they are just as committed to their jobs. The money that they earn is important to the household budget so they should be paid fairly.", said Harman, "“Yet listen to this figure - if you are a woman working part-time you get 40 per cent less per hour on average than a man working full-time."

As we see it, the key phrases here are 'full-time' and 'part-time'. It's only to be expected that full-time workers get paid more than part-time workers, and not because of some patriarchal conspiracy but because full-time workers work more. Surely a statement such as 'if you are a man working part time you get 40 percent less per hour on average than a man working full-time' rings just as true.

Obviously, women with children may be forced to to work part-time shifts because of child rearing commitments, and in many cases they may not have a choice in the issue. Making the white male the enemy though is just an old fashioned idea that doesn't really seem to have any validity these days.

Our society should be equal for all people regardless of gender or ethnicity, and ostracising people for being white and male is just as myopic and insensitive as any other form of discrimination.

Written by Oli Anderson on 26 Jun 2008 12:17 PM. There are 1 comments so far. Permalink