Harriet Harman calls for 50% quota for female shadow cabinet members

kabayiri

What strikes me is how conventional women MPs like Harriet and Jacqui seem in the political world.
They don't bring a lot new.

If you watch them being interviewed they are just as evasive as the male politicians.
It's depressing but it's like they have swallowed the same mould.

chewmylegoff

it actually doesn't matter if they decide to have 100% women in the shadow cabinet, they'll still be a bunch of shifty career politician liars with a dodgy expense claim history, and they'll probably be equally incompetent.

Degenerate

tessie_bear wrote: »

id support them all...equal rights for all

Great idea, let's start by applying gender quotas to higher education admissions. I presume this would meet your approval?

chewmylegoff

Degenerate wrote: »

Great idea, let's start by applying gender quotas to higher education admissions. I presume this would meet your approval?

and equal rights for all to enter women's changing rooms. go equality.

ffacoffipawb

kabayiri wrote: »

What strikes me is how conventional women MPs like Harriet and Jacqui seem in the political world.
They don't bring a lot new.

If you watch them being interviewed they are just as evasive as the male politicians.
It's depressing but it's like they have swallowed the same mould.

Didn't think of Harperson as a swallower.

carolt

It's funny, the point at which I left the Labour Club at Oxford was when they introduced the same policy there - I went to a meeting to speak against it, tarted up to the nines (it was Halloween and I was in full vampish make-up/clothes) - I must have looked/come across as the most reactionary slapper ever...!

I was then v against positive discrimination, on all the grounds given above. What's odd, though, is that as I've got older I've warmed to it. Obviously, in an ideal world everyone would get on on their merits alone. BUT the reality is, we don't live in an ideal world and without some means of ensuring that women (or ethnic minorities for that matter) are represented as they should be, then often the existing boy's club will exclude them, maybe not deliberately, but just because subconsciously people choose others who look like themselves.

Let's face it, if it was so easy for women to gain equal represntation in parliament - which is something that really matters - we would have it, or be coming close to it.

The reality is that, even as the rest of society changes, parliament remains stuck in a timewarp. I don't like it, but I think it's better to have a policy like this than to have a parliament as unbalanced as it is.

Go Harriet! (I admit to rather liking Harriet Harman, actually.)

fc123

ILW wrote: »

I wonder if with all them women working together, that thing would happen where there monthly cycles all coincide. We would probably end up invading Russia because someone made a comment about one of them looking a bit fat at the wrong moment.

Deary deary me...this board is sinking.....a post on 'The Monthlies'.
Plenty of us sail through from month to month with no impact from the errrr 'monthlies'. I might get wired or a strop on and by total coinicidence it's at the same time but, generally, it's irrelevant.

Moody men? I know men get moody....no idea why..I have heard it could be because they aren't getting 'any'. Who knows? Male stress relief is usually different from female stress relief.

To the OP....I am really against positive discrimination...always have been and I have been 'discriminated' against in odd ways over the years.
...but it's usually possible to not be too disadvantaged by it.

I had free advice and help over manufacturing issues many years ago from a minority project...I won't write out the full title as it could rile a couple of posters....but as a white woman, I managed to access the service purely by asking nicely. It wasn't targeted to my 'type' or race but great information/support and it was very beneficial to the business at the time.

Problem is us women have kids and stuff so our priorities can differ a bit at certain points in our lives. Once those kids are big ....well......I would say menopausal women are a secret energy and not to be dismissed lightly.

I read a Julie Burchill article on how post 50 women were always seen as witches and had hidden powers back in Medieaval times...I have tried to link but can't find it.

Maybe she (Harriet) should go on an anti age/looks discrimination fest? Perleese...all this 'how they look' and so on is a real drag.
I recall having quite inspiring older women at school, in college and so on but we have this daft obsession with how old people (esp women) look at the moment so, until that trend changes, there won't be more women 30 - 45 in parliament as they are busy with other duties at that age.

Degenerate

I agree with everything you're saying, but just wanted to highlight one thing:

fc123 wrote: »

Maybe she (Harriet) should go on an anti age/looks discrimination fest? Perleese...all this 'how they look' and so on is a real drag.
I recall having quite inspiring older women at school, in college and so on but we have this daft obsession with how old people (esp women) look at the moment so, until that trend changes, there won't be more women 30 - 45 in parliament as they are busy with other duties at that age.

Who is the "we" that has this daft obsession? Honestly, what do you think the demographic breakdown is of those who read/watch all the appearance-focused media claptrap?

tomstickland

Where do you stop with identity politics?
Height, weight, racial background, sex, sexual orientation, age, educational attainment etc

Kohoutek

carolt wrote: »

BUT the reality is, we don't live in an ideal world and without some means of ensuring that women (or ethnic minorities for that matter) are represented as they should be, then often the existing boy's club will exclude them, maybe not deliberately, but just because subconsciously people choose others who look like themselves.

The 'boy's club' mentality across professions has got a reputation for excluding people who don't already come from upper middle class/private school backgrounds -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8160052.stm

Should we introduce quotas against privately educated candidates for law, medicine, accountancy, banking (and Parliament), or even against people whose parents have both been to university?