We need to celebrate the 'Feminist Leaders'

But first, let’s clarify what I think of as Feminist Leadership, because I think there is indeed a difference between Feminist Leadership, and leadership by women. They are not the same thing, but they are definitely not mutually exclusive.
To me, a Feminist Leader wants to achieve social transformation: they want to achieve gender equality so that women are treated as human beings with equal rights and equal opportunities to men.
Second wave feminism from the 70’s – of which women like me were the beneficiaries-­‐ was often criticised for being about white middle class women, for leaving behind indigenous women, women of colour and those with disability or of other cultures.
Many of those criticisms were unfair, and were part of the conservative backlash that tried to sully the entire notion of feminism. However, when thinking about Feminist Leadership today, we need to learn from our history, and ensure that our approach to change does take an ‘intersectional approach’, that we look at the impacts of race, ethnicity, culture and religion as we think about gender inequality.
It saddens me that women who have benefitted from the work of those who came before them feel they can’t embrace the ongoing work of driving towards gender equality, or use the phrase ‘feminist’, which is simply about advocating for women to be treated as equal human beings. Those women who came before us ensured that we have the right to vote, the right to education, the right to control our reproductive destiny, and without those achievements, we would not even be at the table.
https://womensagenda.com.au/leadership/celebrating-feminist-leadership-deanne-weir/

Does confidence really advance women’s careers? New research says no

Women are told to work on their confidence all the time. To ‘lean in’; to ‘step up’; and to ‘make themselves known’
But can an increase in confidence really shift the game for women, and level a playing field that sees an estimated 150,000 more men than women being promoted each year?
By examining the confidence levels and promotion prospects of the working men and women in Australia who took part in the HILDA research, [Dr Risse] found that men had a ‘higher hope of success’ on average, while women came up against a ‘higher fear of failure’.
That higher hope of success marginally lifted the job promotion prospects for men. But for women, such increases of hope had no effect on their opportunities.
Dr Risse believes the findings challenge the Sheryl Sandberg ‘lean in’ mantra that encourages women to be more assertive in the workplace.
She said the findings may indicate bias in how women are treated in the workplace, which was consistent with other research finding women can actually suffer backlash for demonstrating assertiveness, confidence and ambition at work.
https://womensagenda.com.au/leadership/does-confidence-really-advance-womens-careers-new-research-says-no/

Why the move towards transparency will help shrink the gender pay gap

A shift is underway when it comes to the gender pay gap in Australia: opaque is on the out and transparency is creeping in.
This week two leading professional services firms, Ernst & Young and PwC, disclosed the pay gaps that exist between men and women in their respective organisations, for the first time.
The shift towards transparency follows the British government’s introduction, in 2017, of mandatory reporting of the pay gap in organisations that employ more than 250 people last year. The deadline for disclosure is the 4th April this year and around two-thirds of relevant employers have already complied.
It is a significant change because the historic lack of transparency around remuneration has long allowed the pay gap to flourish unchallenged. It has allowed the nebulous theory that the pay gap is myth to continue. The clarity that actual numbers deliver nips that in the bud and brings accountability to the table.
https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/move-towards-transparency-will-help-shrink-gender-pay-gap/

Transgender files complaint against shelter for abused women

The transgender individual in this story is referred to as a male for purposes of clarity, because he is a biological male who presents as a female, and because no legal record of his female identity or name change could be discovered through research.
The Brother Francis Shelter takes both homeless men and women, but because of the circumstances of his inebriation and fight, the staff sent him over to the Hope Center, which runs a shelter for abused and battered women who are homeless.
Four days later, Coyle filed a complaint with the Anchorage Equal Rights Commission, saying that he had been discriminated against at a place that provides “public accommodation.” He alleges he was refused entry because he is transgendered. Transgendered means he is in a protected class of individual, his complaint says. He cannot be refused service.
In fact, if the Hope Center had to admit men, it would not have the physical means to segregate them from the women.
His court records show that Coyle is a man with an extensive criminal record, including violent crimes.
Coyle’s complaint is clean, legalistic, and notarized. He may have gotten help from Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis (AWAIC) in filing his complaint against Hope Center.
If indeed AWAIC is helping transgendered persons file complaints against another women’s shelter over the issue of men seeking entry into a place reserved for the safety of traumatized women, then the AWAIC board of directors may have some new policy decisions to make.
http://mustreadalaska.com/transgender-files-complaint-shelter-abused-women/

Women must act now, or male-designed robots will take over our lives

The overarching problem of men dictating the rules has found new expression in something that is currently changing the way we live and breathe: artificial intelligence (AI).
With that in mind, I think the next fight for us women is to ensure artificial intelligence does not become the ultimate expression of masculinity.
There are many reasons to fear this could happen. First, the algorithms that codify human choices about how decisions should be made. It is not possible for algorithms to remain immune from the human values of their creators. If a non-diverse workforce is creating them, they are more prone to be implanted with unexamined, undiscussed, often unconscious assumptions and biases about things such as race, gender and class. What if the workforce designing those algorithms is male-dominated? This is the first major problem: the lack of female scientists and, even worse, the lack of true intersectional thinking behind the creation of algorithms.
And if robots are taking human jobs, we need to figure out how we would deal with a large jobless population. . . . And many now suggest that universal basic income is probably the only solution to the rise of robotic automation. This is appealing to many but it does pose questions from a feminist perspective: if the only jobs available will be in science and technology, how is that going to work for women in the light of the gender gaps in those professions?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/13/women-robots-ai-male-artificial-intelligence-automation?

'Saving the children' are the three most dangerous words uttered by white people

The story was splashed across the front page in three bold lines: “Save our children.” It relied on quotes from the federal assistant minister for children and families, David Gillespie, who said now was the time to place Aboriginal children with white families.
“Foster care is not ideal but there is a reluctance to put them in a more permanent situation for fear of creating another stolen generation,’’ Gillespie said in the paper.
[T]he idea that Aboriginal children are not being placed in white families is a lie. The kinship and Aboriginal child placement principles in many states and territories recognise the need for Aboriginal children to be kept in communities, or in extended families. But often, in practice this principle has fallen far short of its aims.
There was also the issue of child protection agencies not consulting with families about child placements, and children, even those placed in kinship care, being separated from their respective communities and cultures.
In Victoria, as reported by the Guardian’s Calla Wahlquist, a third of First Nations children are placed with Aboriginal kin, and 41.6% are placed with non-Indigenous carers.
The greater lie is that Aboriginal children are not being taken away and are being kept in dangerous situations for fear of a stolen generation. That does not gel with the statistics: Aboriginal children are being taken away at exponential rates and these rates have grown every year since Kevin Rudd gave his apology to the stolen generations and promised it would “never happen again”.
While non-Indigenous children are more likely to be taken away for physical and emotional abuse, Aboriginal children are largely taken away because of “neglect”, which is often seen as a subjective term based on cultural interpretation.
[O]f course there are some children who need to be taken away. But there should be a concerted effort to place children with families – with aunties, uncles or grandparents and, if not, other members of the community. And there should be a concerted effort to support Aboriginal mothers and fathers so they can raise their children in a safe and loving environment.
If children are taken away from their families they are placed in the care of the minister. Shouldn’t there be accountability? How can we be assured that they are not placed in more danger than what they were in, given the state of the child protection system?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/14/saving-the-children-are-the-three-most-dangerous-words-uttered-by-white-people?
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/nationals-mp-advocates-adoptions-for-child-abuse-victims-including-indigenous-kids

The Crown's Claire Foy paid less than male co-star, producers admit

Claire Foy, who plays the Queen in The Crown, was paid less than her co-star Matt Smith during the first two seasons of the hit show, producers of the Netflix series have revealed.
Foy, who was reportedly paid $40,000 (£29,000) an episode, will not appear in the third series of The Crown, which starts filming this summer, as every part on the show has since been recast. She won a Golden Globe in 2017 for her portrayal of the current monarch during the early years of her reign.
Speaking to the Guardian before the launch of the second series of The Crown last year, Foy said she believed women were expected to follow pre-accepted norms.
“If all the women in the world suddenly went: ‘I’ve just realised I can’t be arsed with this any more’,” she said.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/13/the-crowns-claire-foy-paid-less-than-male-co-star-producers-admit?

Fewer female lawyers aspire for leadership positions than male lawyers

Fewer female lawyers harbour aspirations to be in leadership positions than male lawyers, a new study in the UK has found.
Among female lawyers, the leading reason is “no route or room for progression” (27%), followed by “work-life balance” (26%), and “stress” (16%). Other reasons identified by female lawyers were “’glass ceiling’ or unacknowledged barrier to advancement” (10%), “satisfied at current level” (7%), and “lack of flexible working opportunities” (4%). There were 3% of female lawyers that said they have “been there, done that.”
https://www.australasianlawyer.com.au/news/fewer-female-lawyers-aspire-for-leadership-positions-than-male-lawyers-247668.aspx

Take it from us – here's what we need in an ambassador for women in science

The federal government announced yesterday that it will appoint a “Women in Science ambassador” to travel to schools around Australia and encourage young girls to pursue careers in science and technology.
It sounds like a good idea – but talking to teens is not enough.
We argue that an ambassador needs to do more than just encourage interest. Such a person should address structure and culture, and remove barriers that impede women’s progress in science and technology, which are still in place even in 2018.
Until the mid-late nineteenth century women were unwelcome at universities, and not allowed to study subjects or work in fields like maths and physics, which were reserved exclusively for men. The legacy of this deliberately biased beginning is alive and well in the structure and culture of modern STEMM disciplines.
https://theconversation.com/take-it-from-us-heres-what-we-need-in-an-ambassador-for-women-in-science-93060

Masturbation hacks and consent advice: how YouTubers took over sex education

With UK schools increasingly falling short, vloggers such as Hannah Witton and Laci Green have stepped up to offer guidance on everything from body confidence to sexual pleasure.
When Lily was at school, she remembers the boys and girls being separated for a sex education class. The boys were given one booklet; the girls another. “In the boys’ booklet, there was a section on masturbation and there wasn’t in the girls’ booklet,” she says. “A girl put her hand up and said: ‘Why don’t we have that?’ and one of the teachers said: ‘Girls don’t do that, that’s disgusting.’ It shouldn’t be a shameful thing to talk about. It can be a bit awkward and embarrassing, but we should be talking about it.”
The videos that have done particularly well, she says, include those on masturbation, “especially female masturbation, which for some reason is still taboo. A lot of people either don’t want to admit it’s happening or feel too ashamed to talk about it. There is a general shame and stigma around that topic, in terms of actually doing it but also talking about it.”
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/mar/12/sex-education-consent-advice-youtube-hannah-witton-laci-green?