Do men need quotas and a rights movement?

Published: 25 Oct 12 10:57 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/opinion/20121025-45765.html

Family Minister Kristina Schröder hosted an international conference on men’s issues this week, to discuss how to help men get jobs in careers traditionally dominated by women. Do we need a men's rights movement? Have your say

A rare breed - the male kindergarten teacher - Society (25 Oct 12)

As Germany fails to close the gender gap in the workplace, and a debate continues about whether quotas should be introduced to improve the mix of people working at the top levels of industry in the country, the figures generally show men way ahead of women.

Yet Schröder hosted a conference in Berlin on Wednesday to talk about what could be done to help men. She told how the share of kindergarten teachers who are male in Germany had risen from 2.4 to 2.9 percent. Yet she was put to shame by the 10 percent of Norwegian kindergarten teachers who are men.

Men are stuck in clichéd roles just as women are, she said – and pointed to the “Boys’ Day” she has set up to encourage boys to go and spend a day in a traditionally female work place.

Yet just as she is against mandatory quotas for women in the workplace, Schröder is against quotas for men – instead she intends to rely on encouragement, a position which was criticised at the conference. Her Austrian counterpart Rudolf Hundstorfer called for quotas, which he said would work to kick off real change.

Is it time men received more consideration in gender policies? As eating disorders increase among boys and men, are they also subject to more pressure to look a particular way – and be a certain way? Are men becoming victims too?

Are they being forgotten and disadvantaged by the efforts made to level the playing field for women? Is it a zero-sum calculation – does helping one gender necessarily mean making things more difficult for the other, or can changes be made that can benefit everyone?

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12:31 October 25, 2012 by yllusion

It is wrong to expect that in every type of job there should be 50/50 distribution of men and women. We have to ask ourselves first how many men and how many women are applying for a cartain job. Look at the schools and universities and see how certain fields are more populated by women (like human sciences) while certain fields are more populated by men (like engineering). We can't say that there is inequality there, can we? Ask many women and many of them will tell you that they prefer humanities, languages, etc. than math or physics. Many men will tell you the opposite. The result of the natural preferences reflect in the schools and universities and this reflects later in the jobs. We have to understand and recognise that we, men and women, have different qualities, we have to recognise that although we are equal as human beings, deserving the same level of respect, recognition and opportunities, we are different by nature. We think differently, we respond differently, we organise ourselves differently because we have different priorities in life, we express ourselves differently. We have to recognise that each gender has its function in nature, and consequently in our society. We are complementary opposite polarities of one single species, both equally important to each other and to the whole. We should praise respect and equality of oportunities above all, but we should also respect the different qualities of men and women. Why are we attempting to change the natural course of things? Our job is simply to prevent injustices and to guarantee that each individual has the oportunity to achieve his/her maximum in life according to his/her natural talents and pre-dispositions. Men and women should stop trying to occupy each other's place, they should stop with the prejudice and games of pride. No one is better or worse, we're simply different and equally important. We achieve balance when everybody perform its role in the natural course of life. The example is in nature.