Pros and cons

New Internationalist, Sept, 2004 by Jane Wylie

In response to Greg Andresen's letter (NI 368) regarding the Equality issue (NI 364), I agree that women in Australia generally receive 'equal pay for equal work'. But it must still be of some concern that women may not always have had the same access to higher paid jobs or promotions. Incorporating the fact that the life expectancy for women in Australia is currently six years higher than for men, Andresen writes that 'most men would happily take a 30-per-cent pay cut to live six years longer'. I would quite happily trade six years of my life not to have had to deal with extensive and serious sexual harassment in the workplace. However, I was encouraged by the fact that many of the men with whom I worked were secure, intelligent and 'empowered' enough in themselves not to feel intimidated by these qualities in their female counterparts. The gap in life expectancy will even out as our growing awareness of health factors such as the dangers of passive smoking and obesity, is hopefully reflected in an increase in the lifespan of people in general and men in particular (since the tradition in Australia has been for men to be more likely to be overweight and to spend more time in smoke-filled pubs).

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Jane Wylie Sydney, Australia