Page 15 - 201902 SCA February 2019 Volume 56 Number 1

FEBRUARY
2019

the weekend is now required for family activities and family life, to achieve and maintain the top roles in
much needed family bonding. companies. There are even fewer women prepared
to do this and that is the reason for the gender
Grandparents, if still alive and fit enough to look after imbalance at the most senior levels of companies.
grandchildren in this world of older parenthood, are This is also the reason for the alleged gender pay gap.
often not as readily available to look after them due to The current mainstream narrative is that this gender
their own work commitments. The pension now not imbalance at senior levels and the gender pay gap is
being available until 65 and many grandparents still due to a significant bias, albeit possibly unconscious,
working as compulsory retirement has been abolished. against the appointment of women to high paying
roles and to the upper echelons of business.
We have now reached the stage where the
presence of women in any role is now considered There are many women commentators and vloggists
unremarkable, as it should be. Unfortunately, the on You Tube who disagree with that current group-
battle for gender equality, which has now largely think. Australians Betinna Arndt, Daisy Cousens,
been won, is still being fought in third and fourth Sydney Watson and Georgia Free are a good starting
wave feminism with increasingly trivial items being point if you are brave enough to enter this rabbit hole
seen as misogynistic; giving rise to such misandrous and be red-pilled.
neologisms as ‘manspreading’ and ‘mansplaining’.
If this article has given you some food for thought
Those women who have chosen a fulltime supportive and re-evaluation, I suggest you spend 17 minutes
role for their family seem to feel they need to of your time viewing a Diversity themed Ted-X
apologise for not having a career. My support for Conference presentation by Jess Butcher MBE,
second wave feminism during my time at University given at Aston University in Birmingham, United
arose because I saw it as a way to enable both men Kingdom on April 28th, 2018 entitled “Is Modern
and women to have choice as to the life paths they Feminism starting to undermine itself?”, readily
wished to pursue. If that choice by a woman was to available on You Tube. (bit.ly/2R4a4Lb) n
take on the traditional role of wife and mother and not
be in paid employment, that is as valid and worthy a In the next issue; “Rogan Art”.
choice as any, and certainly not one to apologise for.

Rising to the top level of any Industry is hard work,
takes devotion to your career, a requirement that
you will work 80 hour plus weeks and is extremely
competitive. It also takes a number of years of
employment to reach the pinnacle. The optimal time
to work these punishing hours to position yourself to
get into the most prestigious and best paid positions WELCOME TO THE
is between the ages of 25 and 40. Unfortunately for
women, this is also the optimal time to have children INDUSTRY’S LEADING TRADE SHOW
of your own. It shouldn’t need stating that bearing and NUREMBERG // GERMANY
caring for children is physically and emotionally more
demanding on the female than it is on the male. European Coatings Show: 19 – 21 March 2019
European Coatings Show Conference: 18 –19 March 2019

Looking back on my career I initially had the ambition
to reach the most senior management levels of our
Industry. When I saw the negative effect this had on the
relationships and family life of the males I got to know
well in such positions, I made the conscious decision
to tone back on my ambitions and get a better work life
balance by devoting more time to my growing family
rather than being available 24/7 for my career.

This is a decision that I now, in retrospect, realise
was an extremely wise one. I enjoy a closeness with
my children and grandchildren that makes me feel
very spiritually wealthy.

For women, where the physical demand of having
children is so much greater, the physiological and
psychological pressure to devote less effort to a Most recently over 1,100 international exhibitors and over 30,000 visitors
career is significantly greater, and a far easier and Accompanied by Europe’s largest and most important industry conference
more socially acceptable one to take.  Plan your visit online: european-coatings-show.com/shownavigator
Organisation: NürnbergMesse Organiser: Vincentz Network
european-coatings.com
european-coatings-show.com
There are only a few men who are prepared to work
the punishing hours, with its toll on relationships and
ECS2019_210x297_EN_BES.indd 1 14.01.19 09:53
Journal of Surface Coatings Australia 13