11th December 2008, 07:15 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by tom wilson
I was once told that if I was a decent spin-bowler I'd have a job for life at a certain unit. Underscore, was that sexist? Would it be sexist if I [u]was</u> a decent spin-bowler?.
As a medium paced seamer, I'd find that highly bowlerist. But that's cricket.
On the for-or-against Underscore: Tom, I'm with you on this one.
The danger with the ism's is that life in it's myriad of complexity gets interpreted in reductive terms. Growing up in Bradford I saw people eager to understand life's problems in racial terms, when in many instances that was an irrelevant factor. The real culprits for social problems get off lightly, and the cycle perpetuates.
Quote:quote:Originally posted by drpeterwardle
I am alarmed by underscore post.
For example "women (me sometimes included!) drinking no liquids on eight hour watching brief/monitoring shifts" shows that very basic H&S regulations are being broken by both the main and archaeological contractors.
Underscore, I empathise. I too have pissed into the wind, and in this one (small) way I feel being a man is a clear competetive advantage. But in all your tales from the 'real world', I couldn't help but think that being a woman was the least important thing. This is a Health and Safety issue and in Ireland at least, the law is unequivocal. If a claim is made against a company on H&S grounds, it's not a question of whether or not an employee will win money but a question of how much they are going to win. The company is guilty until proven innocent and this has driven an audit culture in which all T's are crossed. I submitted three telephone directories of information recently in a tender for 1 weeks work.
The law regarding unfair dismissal is equally clear-cut, and if you have to endure working in a sexist environment to the point that you cannot continue, this counts as constructive dismissal. A tribunal will award in your favour automatically in this instance, and the cost will be met by your employer.
An H&S judgment can count against any bidders in a tender scoring process, so the commercial imperative is to put mechanisms and procedures in place to ensure that the working environment experienced by underscore no longer exists. Irrelevant of sex.