Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Inner Feminism Unleashed

Growing up, I embraced feminism for awhile - not the bra burning type of feminism, but more of the 'why aren't women being treated the same way as men are?' kind. This kind of stemmed from my father's unfair statements of 'It's too dangerous because you're a girl' or 'I'd let you go to (insert name of place) if you were a boy'

Nevertheless, as I grew older, I decided to toss my so-called feminism into the bin because it was pointless. Plus I work in an environment filled with men, so feminism is not a very good trait unless I want to get offended every single day.

This evening, for some reason (because he had nothing better to do, probably) Joseph decided to hang around where A (one of the other process engineers) and I sit and bug our lives with his conversation. As usual he had an array of complaints about how the company trip this weekend was arranged, to the position of the cutter plotter and a whole lot of other things that I half listened to as I was trying to concentrate on my work.

Not too long into his tirade about everything wrong with where we work (he used to work for one of our customers before this, but was taken in as a consultant after his retirement, the ungrateful sod), CML passed by our office to go somewhere. He referred to her as 'Ah Moi' (loosely translated will mean something like young Chinese lady - a generic term which I personally think is disrespectful) and said something about her taking over the Quality section of our place. As if calling someone Ah Moi is not bad enough, he expressed his horror at our company giving a woman such an important decision making task! I listened with a somewhat interested air at what he was saying, being a woman myself.

He then proceeded to tell both A and myself that in his former place a woman would never ever be given an important decision making task, especially in the important areas such as in manufacturing or quality or even R&D, and he can even proudly claim that when a woman got married, she'd be transferred or requested to quit! That (according to him), is a certain country's style of working! (Don't the women from that country want to murder their men, I wonder) I nearly vomited into the document I was reading then. Instead I asked him if the women ever sued the company for such blatant gender inequality. I was horrified to learn that they never did (and this was as recent as the late 90's)

And so he continued with the story about his old company (why don't you go back there, you idiot!??) and A and I continued to listen with interest (I was looking for an area to enter and launch an attack and A was looking at me, trying to gauge my reaction because I can get a bit overexcited over things I'm passionate about)

Now, the thing is, where we work, a lot of important decision making tasks are held by women. Even my direct boss is a woman, the head of R&D is a woman, and a few other important posts are held by women. I pointed this out to Joseph and even went to the extent of saying that these few people are very committed in their jobs compared to some others and can actually make very good decisions professionally as well as decisions that affect the welfare of the people under them! I'm not saying that women are better at decision making than men, just that we can be given the task and can make decisions as objectively as a man can. All people are created equal except for certain bits and pieces, that is. The excellent part is, even A (who is male) supported my argument, thinking that ideas that women cannot be put into decision making posts are a bit ridiculous in this time and age. From the back of the room, R who was quietly doing his work gave a not-so-discreet cough after I started my argument.

This whole pointless discussion (sometimes, I think Joseph just likes to create a sensation to get some attention like a lousy tabloid) lasted about half an hour. Or he could be an escapee on a time machine from the stone age (although even the men from the stone age would have had more faith in their women) Seriously, no one with such an old-fashioned mindset should be allowed to walk around in the 21st century!

Edit: Sorry about the long ranty post!

25 comments:

  1. It is shocking how much of that kind of thing still goes on. I remember once in my old company that a bloke applied for a job on the same level as me (that I was on at the time). He had no more qualifications or experience than any of us at the level but because he was a guy they thought he had applied for the wrong post and considered him for a more senior post. Even when I got to junior executive level it continued. And there are women in senior post at that company, but it's like they're considered the exception. AND women weren't allowed to wear trousers there until as late as 1999!! How no one took them to the equality authority is beyond me!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know... you'd think that people would have shed that cavemen mentality and then you meet people like this. This was the first time I've ever met someone at work from this school of thought.. so it took me by surprise.

    I'm quite surprised hearing about your former company as well... I do know that some jobs prefer taking males especially those that involve shift work, or something dangerous... but other than that? And what were the women doing? That's the big question..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Since feminism is simply the support of rights nad opportunties not being based on gender, it never makes sense to abandon it. It's ust that conservative have tried to take the word and turn it into something it's not.

    ReplyDelete
  4. were you a rough girl before? :) just kidding ya.

    btw, joseph has typical brain that still think about double standard which woman should always below man and cannot get the high position in any department. i'm against him.

    but i have another typical brain maybe you'd say its as close as his brain but i just think that sometimes women get emotion involve in their work. i know not all women are like that but based on my "research" most of them do get emotion involve even though its not much.

    the best excuse woman always use is "menstrual".

    talking about gender equality, i agree but still depend on what field that we are talking about :)

    no hard feeling ya :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. OMG please give me details about this CML dick. What an arsewipe!!!! I am going to send a bunch of my klang machas to teach him a lesson he'll never forget!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. secret agent woman: I suppose I still hold the ideals of a feminist, or more accurately the ideals of total equality. IMHO the word feminist itself has unfortunately gained a bad image because they are projected as men haters, etc.

    Faisal: Rough? LOL, I think not... And yeah, no offense taken. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Anyway,I just want to make one thing clear - the 'excuse' of menstrual (as you call it) or PMS as I prefer to call it, is not an excuse. It is very real and happens to even the most docile kind of women. But that's only one or two days a month for most women. Emphasis on the word most...

    Sabrina: It's Joseph. CML is the person who got referred to as Ah Moi. But yeah, he needs to be thought a lesson or two on how to behave appropriately in modern society!

    ReplyDelete
  7. he he, isn't it actually funny listening to such retards?

    Btw, more than your post, the comment from Sabrina sounds scary... What are klang machas? Sound like some malaysian bad guys...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Well, it depends I guess. It wasn't funny yesterday evening, but it may be funny say, a few days from now.

    As for sabrina's comment... LOL. Klang is a town here in M'sia, and 'macha' is a term guys use to call each other. It originated in the Indian community but these days you can hear anyone use it. I know it sounds like they're bad guys, but I doubt they'd do real damage... But that's not all... the explanation can be pretty long

    You know what? You've just given me an idea for a post!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Smack him, the prick.

    I don't like the hard line 'feminism' that, even though it claims it is after equality, has members that actively act superior. Aunty and I had an argument about this at one point...

    But I do believe woman are equal, and capable of making very difficult decisions and fulfilling very senior managerial positions. Some of my best (and worst lol) managers have been women. Some of my best (and worst) managers have been men. Its all the same.

    SS

    ReplyDelete
  10. Actually they would do real damage if necessary :p

    p/s : You were missed during the gathering

    ReplyDelete
  11. A few things...

    You are adorable when annoyed.

    You are adorable anyways.

    I like women in positions of power ;)

    And sexist men have small dicks.

    ReplyDelete
  12. SS: Hmmm... it is the ones that think they are superior who have tarnished the image of feminists. Nevertheless I am not going to fight to bring back their good image either. There are too many other more important battles to tackle at the moment.

    Sabrina: Oh. Thank you for clarifying that. ;)

    Orhan: Thank you
    And thank you again
    ;)
    I'll take your word for it :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I always believe that general statement made based on genders are as bad as general statement made based on race . However,dunno why I always find it amusing when people have certain dead set beliefs based on their prejudices. So I hope Joseph will be offered as senior consultant (with 5X his current pay)in a firm owned and managed by womans next ;)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey there ! U seem to get alot of feedback on office 'politicking'eh!I believe , when it concerns the working world , we have to face some sort or type of downcast character along the way .....:) So - cheer up gal !

    ReplyDelete
  15. Jai: He's retired, and any woman in her right mind will never ever hire him. They better not, actually, LOL. Although it will probably bring him down a peg or two.

    MsUnicorn: Oh yeah.. I suppose more people relate to office related posts than say something related to horses?

    ReplyDelete
  16. I generally don't care if someone, man or woman, holds such opinions, but it bothers me when their bullshit interferes with someone else's lives, usually a woman's.

    Also, it's unprofessional to judge a colleague on anything other than their work, but of course, being human, other things do affect the way we evaluate people; their personalities, how we get on with them, their political views, age, gender, etc. Still, denying a qualified woman a position on the basis of her gender doesn't benefit the company in any way, and can deny it the skills of potentially the best person for the job, so it seems to me to be a very unprofessional way to manage staff.

    Also moronic. Gotta love the stupidity.

    I would hate to be that person. I'd hate to have such a restricted view of human nature. I'd hate to live in a world where I felt I couldn't trust 51% of the population becuase of something as arbitrary as gender.

    But one point I must make: PMS does not make women crazy or irrational. I find this idea really offensive, and especially hate it as this gives this type of men an excuse, endorsed by women, to call women overemotional and undependable. Occasionally I get a bit teary at this time of the month, but you know what? As an adult, I can manage that. It doesn't make me more emotional in work and it doesn't make me difficult to approach in work and doesn't make me less able to focus on my tasks. I may consume my own weight in chocolate but that is usually in the privacy of my own home. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Exactly... a person should be judged by their performance and not on their gender. The worse part abt Joseph is, he hardly knows her. See, the reason he called her Ah Moi was because he didn't know her name! Which makes his statement even more biased than ever.

    Good point about the PMS issue. I've noticed that with any slight display of emotion you end up being labelled as being PMS-ish.

    ReplyDelete
  18. What century did this idiot guy come from? I used to work under a woman boss and have numerous clients in high ranking positions ... I didn't think these kind of people existed.

    Besides in this day and age, if the woman wanted to go and work and be the main income earner, then I'd just be as happy staying home and becoming a house husband. Can blog all day, mah ... LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Century of the Old Goat?

    To be honest, at the moment I'd like to sit at home and blog too... LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow, that made me angry. I'm a male, but I consider myself a feminist because I believe that men and women should have equality of opportunity, and that gender does not effect an individual's ability to do a job effectively.

    How could anyone believe otherwise?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Tell me about it. Of course there could be some difference in opinions in people in general. What pissed me off the most was that his former company actually followed that ridiculous policy until quite recently!

    ReplyDelete
  22. "and bug our lives with his conversation." That phrase actually made me snort :)

    It sounds like you exhibited amazing control. This guy sounds like a piece of work.

    Thanks for posting the Positive Day button on your sidebar!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Yeah, he manages to get all our goats...

    ReplyDelete
  24. Well that's ridiculous and he needs to make some attempt to step into the 20th century before trying to get to the 21st. You don't need to be a feminist to see how stupid this mode of thought is. Is he insecure perhaps?

    ReplyDelete
  25. retired and has nothing better to do- such idiots stil do exist - actually younger generation men would go around saying such stuff if they weren't scared of such back lash - not all but some

    ReplyDelete

IT's THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

Time for the Annual Appraisal again.  It's a cloudy Sunday afternoon, and I had just finished giving scores to my subordinates on their ...