Equal Opportunity Day 2024 is on Tuesday, November 19, 2024: Women attained equal opportunities in to-day life!!!!!!!?

Tuesday, November 19, 2024 is Equal Opportunity Day 2024. The Urban League of Portland's 2012 Equal Opportunity Day Awards ... 2012 Equal Opportunity Day

If you're talking on a global scale then you're right. The majority of women across the world do not share the same rights as men and this is something that people struggle for the world over.

In the words of Jim Morrison, "the West is the best" in this respect as only the latter part of your last statement is applicable to most Western democracies. That is to say that western women tend to have the same "rights", however these rights tend not to translate into a reality in terms of the opportunities that present themselves to any given woman as opposed to those available to any given man. This is something that needs to be constantly addressed, particularly in politics and the top end of business, in my opinion, as only when we have women leading men and women, will there be any chance for equality.

There are certain biological facts that inevitably enter the debate of equality between men and women, such as the tendancy for men to be physically stronger than women and therefore more adept at physical labour, however there is no reason why a woman can't undertake intellectual tasks to the same standard as a man. School and University results support this argument, however the reality is that men still get the better work opportunities and this balance needs to be redressed - I'm certain, as a man, that humanity will only benefit from such a turnaround.

The propensity of women to fall pregnant far more frequently than men(!) is also part of the debate, particularly in the business arena. 9 months is a long time and somebody has to raise a child, traditionally, and naturally, this has always tended to be the woman. Perhaps if men took on more post-natal responsibilities this hurdle could be overcome, however not every woman wants to go to work and miss their kids growing up. It's hard enough for a father to do that.

There is a difference between rights and opportunities and the factors that turn a right into an opportunity need to be looked at in order to ensure that we live in a more balanced society the world over.

As for the countries where religion, society, tradition, family "values" and politics devalue and silence women, I believe that all we can do in the west at the moment is express our objection and show the best example we can by continuing to overcome the plethora of inequalities that still exist in our own backyards in the hope that one day we can propose a definitive solution to the problem of discrimination against women.

Urban Vigilante; take a quick look at some statistics on pay differentials between men and women in business. Women earn, on average, 30% less than men in France, UK and the USA. Take a look at the number of women executives in comparison to the number of men. Equality isn't about giving the odd talented person a chance, it's about things being EQUAL. ie. One woman counts for one man and vice versa.

Equal Opportunities?

Hey Neil

They are all too busy attending seminars and conciousness raising groups to apply themselves to their careers!

Or maybe positive discrimination isn't as effective as the majority of (mostly sun readers) like to loudly proclaim?

Either way, I hope the lunches were nice as they are usually the best things about those sort of days.

Equal opportunity myth?

The wording of the POLICY - which is not and never can be LAW since it is blatantly illegal - is:-

"Where all else is equal - PREFERENCE will be given to Women, those from a non-English speaking background, and Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islanders".

Black and white, PREFERENCE is active discrimination. The only group in that set with whom I have no argument is the last the ATSI group, who've copped it for 200 years+. All other case of PREFERENCE should ONLY be on individual merit - not on specified social groups in any way.

You simply cannot equate a daughter of Kerry Packer with a boy from the bush who has made his own way since he was 15 after a severely disadvantaged upbringing. NEVER HAPPEN IN THE REAL WORLD - and is Casus Belli - only one point on which the Australian people - given a fair opportunity to fully appraise the facts - will rise in their righteous wrath and will tear down the entire structure of government - as they are so itching to do right now!

I resigned from government service over this policy - stating that it was pure discrimination, would reduce efficiency and morale, and was unnecessary since the optimum view was to accept all as genuinely equal on genuine merit from Day One.... had this approach been the one taken - the entire issue would now be dead and buried since 'equality' has long ago been achieved - and is now weighing massively in the opposite direction. Countless mothers and grandmothers are seeing their sons robbed of a genuine equal opportunity - never upset a mother or grandmother.

ADDS:- "EEO" is a policy of government - and as such renders the following:-

Since government itself has declared that it has the right to establish policy on employment/promotion - it is equally the right of any organisation to do the same. This renders any demand for '50% women CEOs' and so on superfluous - since all companies have the same right to set their own policy - which is not and can not be LAW - and never will be!

Any attempt to force this through law will result in my promised march on Canberra - alone if I must!***