Women vs Men. Why?
After celebrating International Women’s Day yesterday, I thought I’d throw my 2 pennies in with a perspective as a husband, a father, and the only male employee in my workplace.
“A man, writing a blog about women - goodness this guy is controversial!” I hear you cry as I break the mould…..I’ll pause for a moment whilst the internet crashes like a post from a Kardashian on Instagram!
I do, however, feel I’m pretty well placed to give my thoughts as perhaps my life goes against the typical stereotypes that we as a community have outlined with the common day world issues on men vs women. Do I think there should be equality? Always. No gender pay gaps, no missed opportunities for either gender etc, however, I want to delve slightly deeper into the male psyche on this one.
Why does history teach us that men should be the primary or sole provider? Women should stay home with the kids. Don’t take the bins out honey…. That’s a blue job, right?
I have no shame in saying I am married to a power woman. An incredibly hard working and successful lady, both in her personal life and as a professional. She is our primary provider and I’m very proud of her, with no shame or reservations, she’s earned everything and deserves everything. We recently had a baby girl and frankly if I was proud about things and said “You stay off on maternity leave darling, and let the man go back to work” I’d have been up the creek with no paddle as they say! I wouldn’t be able to solely provide for our family, but likewise, she wouldn’t be able to do it without me. As men we don’t need to be the dominant one, bringing in cash or doing “blue jobs”, we simply need to be a team. Equality is about teamwork, for one can’t survive without the other. The world would fail if the population was 100% men or women, we need each other to survive.
Similarly, I work in a team of 7 people, I am the only man, and there are 6 women. I’ve heard things like “Ooo, you’re outnumbered”….. Even that language implies a mentality of us vs them, men vs woman. I’m not outnumbered, I am 1 of 7 in a team of collaborative people, where we are all equal. My colleagues are great at what they do, best in the business! Do we work differently? Absolutely. Is that a bad thing? No. We are all individuals, and they have different qualities to me, we utilise our strengths….They need me, and I need them in order for us to be successful.
Hopefully, the message is starting to come through.
I’m striving for a world where my daughter grows up feeling empowered, but respectful of men - equal. Where she can be whatever she wants to be, but achieved through hard work, not ticking a diversity box. Where she’s paid well because she deserves it and where she’s promoted and given opportunity because she’s best for the job! Where she has no stigmas or stereotypes embedded into her thought process, she is equal to the other genders, races, ages….. people! She’s 11 months old, but already we can tell she’s going to run the world, because she’s going to be an awesome leader like her mother!
I’m so proud of my wife, my daughter, my colleagues, my family. I’m excited to see what they accomplish in life, and I know I couldn’t do what I do without them all.
Kudos to all the women out there who are an inspiration. I married mine, and I’m hoping to raise my daughter and my stepson to be inspirational too. Let’s try to have the equality mindset, it doesn’t matter what gender you are, just make a positive impact on those around you, and let’s leave our mark as a quality one, unbiased and equal.