International Women's Day was on March 8. Facebook informed me of this with a little banner, and asked me to share my thoughts.
I considered posting a status, and then changed my mind.
Instead, I ate bacon, eggs, hash browns, half a tomato, and listened to a guest speaker discuss the modern woman in the workplace. In other words, I attended a corporate breakfast and the guest speaker was the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner.
She spoke about gender inequality in terms of the pay gap, skills gap, unconscious bias and lack of women in upper management and higher paying jobs. She rattled off statistic after statistic until my brain was quite muddled and it became quite clear that women are far behind men in this modern society of ours.
'So how are we working to fix this?' she asked.
Encouraging diversity in management and governance was a strong theme, as well as providing incentives for women to study and succeed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics among other typically male-dominated fields.
Another barrier to gender equality was the parental leave that women take to have children, and how this affects their career. The solution? Providing high quality childcare and flexible working environments so women feel confident heading back to work quickly.
The commissioner commented that she had taken only a couple of months off for the birth of each of her children.
HANG ON.
That's the solution?!
I remember looking around the room at all the women listening intently. Was I the only one surprised? It appeared so.
Now, I don't have any kids, so perhaps my opinion may change down the line, but I certainly don't think the Human Rights Commission should be encouraging women to jump straight back to work after having a baby.
Sure, by all means, if a new mother feels comfortable going back to work, go for it! But if you don't, the HRC should not be putting pressure on new mothers to get back to their career just to improve gender equality.
That's focusing on numbers. That's focusing on improving statistics to make an organisation look good.
I can already hear the talk in the HRC office: 'Oh look! Women are reaching higher levels of management because they're taking less time off work! Pat on the back, everyone! We're doing a good job!'
What if a mother doesn't want to leave her child in childcare?
What if the nature of her career means it's fairly inflexible?
What about a child's rights to have a parent near by?
Does a child even have the right to have a parent?
Statistics versus desire
New Zealand is proud of our history in being the first country to give women the vote. Our human rights campaigners today feel the weight of their predecessors on their shoulders. Has this led to a focus on statistics, so we don't let ourselves down?
New mothers should not be made to feel that they're somehow contributing to gender inequality simply because they have a desire to stay at home and be a mum.
A very influential woman, whom I look up to, recently took six months off work to spend time with her young children. She realised they were growing up fast, and she was missing it. This woman is near the top of her field, one of the first women to hold such a high position in her organisation.
And after six months, guess what? She became a gender inequality statistic in the eyes of the HRC. She decided investing in her children's upbringing was more important than her career. She realised that, although she was so close to making history, to her nothing was worth missing out on spending time with her kids. And so she quit her position, and moved into a part-time, less demanding role.
And I say good on her and how dare anyone make her feel guilty for her choice.
The essence of equality is ensuring all people have equal opportunities regardless of their needs. For many women, a need definitely includes the God-given desire to be a mother.
We should be embracing this desire, and finding ways to include it as part of our definition of success in achieving gender equality.
Claire Debrois grew up in Feilding, New Zealand, and holds a communications degree in public relations from Massey University. She lives with her husband in Wellington and works in account management for a web design company. She enjoys keeping fit and active, and is a field engineer in the Army Reserves.
Claire Debrois' previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/claire-debrois.html