Women's council critical of Cabinet

questionmark? · 10-03-2011 3:37pm #1

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0310/1224291779368.html

Thats right the womens council believe that cabinet positions should have being based on not how good you are but rather if your a male or female! This to me stinks of sexism from the womens council. If they wanted something constructive to say they could have left it at this "Ms McKay said the council welcomed Ireland’s first woman Attorney General, Máire Whelan."

Now I know some of the appointments may not be everybody cups of tea but surely the appointment of anybody to any position based on sex is promoting sexism!?

enda1 · 10-03-2011 3:38pm

The women's council can suck my fat hairy cock.

orourkeda · 10-03-2011 3:39pm

Women. Tut.

Never happy are they

Cookie_Monster · 10-03-2011 3:39pm

If 14 out of 15 were women would they be complaining that men were under represented?

Best person for the job, regardless of gender

Sykk · 10-03-2011 3:42pm

enda1 wrote: »

The women's council can suck my fat hairy cock.

Quote from Enda.
Quote from Enda.
Quote from Enda.

marzic · 10-03-2011 3:44pm

enda1 wrote: »

The women's council can suck my fat hairy cock.

You tell 'em Taoiseach... Boom-Boom!

(well he did promise the people honesty)

questionmark? · 10-03-2011 3:45pm

enda1 wrote: »

The women's council can suck my fat hairy cock.

According to the womens council you should suck their fat hairy cocks lips!

Captain_Generic · 10-03-2011 3:46pm

Ms Kenny would agree

Morlar · 10-03-2011 3:53pm

The best person for the job, regardless of Gender, is the only way. Anything else is discrimination against the best qualified.

We are not really in a position where we should be making things even more difficult for ourselves by discriminating against the best qualified people for ministerial positions.

Dravokivich · 10-03-2011 4:12pm

Nice to know they want people in there for Gender as opposed to... erm... Policies and Ideals... or their political motivation / ability / experience...

Alter-Ego · 10-03-2011 4:12pm

Maybe if they introduced a Minister for Kitchens and Ironing. Or a Minister for Sandwiches and Washing Machines. :pac:

blockedPaT · 10-03-2011 4:19pm

Great logic by them, gender over ability lol

smellslikeshoes · 10-03-2011 4:21pm

By my reckoning 2 cabinet positions is proportionate to the amount of women in the Dail. 2/15 cabinet positions, 23/166 TDs.

Encouraging more women to run for office two months ago is what they should have been making noise about, not whining now that they feel only 2 cabinet ministers is unfair.

Ruu_Old · 10-03-2011 4:22pm

Women, know your limits! :mad:

silverspoon · 10-03-2011 4:37pm

OK, ignoring people being mysogynistic d!cks, whether trying to be funny or not, I knew this would be an issue once I heard the Cabinet makeup. Perhaps the Women's Council would have preferred a Cabinet member with the towering intellect of, say, Mary Coughlan, or the warm caring nature of Mary Harney. I'm very satisfied with the Cabinet makeup, and I don't care if they're hermaphrodite, strap-on wearing gigolos if they're competent and suited to the portfolio they were given. I certainly do not want a portfolio given to a women to pay lip service to anyone.
It was the same with these concerns about geography regarding Cabinet - oh it's too Dublin-centred, they should give a portfolio to a woman from the backyard of Limerick so that all the politically correct boxes are ticked. I'm from Tipperary and I couldn't give a monkeys if Munster is underrepresented in Cabinet. The Cabinet represents national interests, and it's not in the national interest to give a portfolio to a less qualified person on merit of fitting a politically correct profile for the sake of appearances. It's insulting - to the people who deserve a Ministry by virtue of their competence and are overlooked, to the person who gets this job as a pat on the head for being the right gender, and to the wider group that the receiver of this 'affirmative action' represents.

10-03-2011 4:38pm

On the one hand its sexism and on the other, well, if women are being shunted out then we should look at that.
I don't know what kind of pool of women they have to choose from for the cabinet though?

Dravokivich · 10-03-2011 4:51pm

bluewolf wrote: »

On the one hand its sexism and on the other, well, if women are being shunted out then we should look at that.

just cutting out the second part of your post becuase i'm not too sure on the quality of the rest of the td's meself...

but no one should get any job with their gender being factored in. thats what equality means.

equality does not mean you are going to have an even share of genders in a particular role, as that would require 1 of each gender to meet that "balance".

but then as another poster mentioned, the ratio of women in the cabinet doesnt seem too far off from the ratio of women in the dail overall.

although... i dont think that should be something set in stone.

each party would have people with an interest in different areas of government and put forward whoever they are confident with for it.

for example, leo varadkar has always been on about transport within blanch/carpenterstown. makes sense to me that he's become the minister for it in an fg government.

IvySlayer · 10-03-2011 4:56pm

The National Womens Council should cut in the next budget, what is their actual purpose?

10-03-2011 5:13pm

Dravokivich wrote: »

just cutting out the second part of your post becuase i'm not too sure on the quality of the rest of the td's meself...

but no one should get any job with their gender being factored in. thats what equality means.

equality does not mean you are going to have an even share of genders in a particular role, as that would require 1 of each gender to meet that "balance".

but then as another poster mentioned, the ratio of women in the cabinet doesnt seem too far off from the ratio of women in the dail overall.

although... i dont think that should be something set in stone.

each party would have people with an interest in different areas of government and put forward whoever they are confident with for it.

for example, leo varadkar has always been on about transport within blanch/carpenterstown. makes sense to me that he's become the minister for it in an fg government.

Yes I agree unless there is an obvious bias against one or the other.
You don't need to lecture me on quotas, that's why I said what kind of pool do they have. If they had loads of women of good quality then there's an obvious bias against them. If they dont, then there's no point yelling sexism when women just arent getting into politics.

biko · 10-03-2011 5:15pm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

If 14 out of 15 were women would they be complaining that men were under represented?

You can bet your butt that there'd be uproar in AH

Currently Norway and Sweden have close to 50/50 representation.

artanevilla · 10-03-2011 5:19pm

You shouldn't have a women in the cabinet just for the sake of having a women in the cabinet. The person that's best for the job should be in the cabinet, regardless of sex.

smash · 10-03-2011 5:28pm

artanevilla wrote: »

You shouldn't have a women in the cabinet just for the sake of having a women in the cabinet. The person that's best for the job should be in the cabinet, regardless of sex.

Unless they're really hot of course.

Morlar · 10-03-2011 5:32pm

steve06 wrote: »

Unless they're really hot of course.

Speaking of hot that reminds me ..

http://www.thejournal.ie/lucinda-creighton-says-there-should-be-no-token-females-in-the-cabinet-2011-03/

Lucinda Creighton says there should be no ‘token females’ in the cabinet

FINE GAEL TD Lucinda Creighton has said that any women appointed to the cabinet later today should not be regarded as “token females”.

Speaking at an event to mark International Women’s Day, Creighton said that it was important that any women TDs appointed to the cabinet or as junior ministers should not be considered as “filling a gender quota”, reports the Irish Times.

She said that a lot of women within her party didn’t believe that the introduction of a gender quota was a solution to the issue of female participation in Irish politics.

However, Creighton welcomed the coalition government’s proposal to link party subsidies to the number of women candidates put forward for elections.

donfers · 10-03-2011 5:40pm

steve06 wrote: »

Unless they're really hot of course.

Silvio, is that you....can't we send the national women's council to Italy, give them a relocation bonus and give them a cause actually worth fighting for?

donfers · 10-03-2011 5:42pm

Morlar wrote: »

Speaking of hot that reminds me ..

easy now.....she's hot by irish female politican standards which doesn't necessarily say a lot......it's like saying I am an Olympic athlete because I am surrounded by lepers

donfers · 10-03-2011 5:43pm

biko wrote: »

You can bet your butt that there'd be uproar in AH
Currently Norway and Sweden have close to 50/50 representation.

if 14 of the cabinet were women and they proved to be excellent at their jobs then I'd like to think that AH would have no problem with that

donfers · 10-03-2011 5:45pm

IvySlayer wrote: »

The National Womens Council should cut in the next budget, what is their actual purpose?

to foster discrimination in society but brainwash and manipulate the media and cowed masses into believing that it is in fact equality

PrincessLola · 10-03-2011 5:55pm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

If 14 out of 15 were women would they be complaining that men were under represented?

Best person for the job, regardless of gender

If 14 out of 15 were women there would be no end of bitching about it on AH, about being a "whipped" society living under the control of "teh femnazis" and men claiming their lack of representation in government was victimising them.

OutlawPete · 10-03-2011 6:20pm

Must be no Hunky Dory ad campaigns for Susan to get her sexist knickers in a twist about this week.

Dangerous Man · 10-03-2011 6:23pm

biko wrote: »

You can bet your butt that there'd be uproar in AH
Currently Norway and Sweden have close to 50/50 representation.

No, you can't actually. The majority of posters on AH rightly distrust the likes of the Women's council, Bacik, etc because they push an anti-equality agenda that suits a select few, and are openly sexist. If the cabinet was tomorrow made up purely of women I personally wouldn't care as long as they got the posts by merit and I'm sure most AH members would feel the same way. End of. Oh, and by the way, what happens in Norway and Sweden is of NO RELEVANCE TO IRELAND. Just as what happens in China, politically, is of no relevance, or Mongolia, or New Zealand, or Chile, or Ukraine.
This argument, from feminists, is getting extremely old, actually. They're just as selective in providing evidence for their arguments as they are in tackling 'inequality.' It's an obvious, and extremely cynical power-grab - nothing more.

twinQuins · 10-03-2011 6:25pm

She said it was “a disgrace” that the newly appointed Labour Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton was not given a financial portfolio, as had been anticipated.

I'm sure there are plenty of people that didn't win the lotto as they anticipated but them's the breaks.

Gunsfortoys · 10-03-2011 6:35pm

You can't make this stuff up.

I agree that positions of ANY job should be awarded on merit not because of what gender.

What a load of absolute bollocks.

Nodin · 10-03-2011 7:04pm

Morlar wrote: »

Speaking of hot that reminds me ..

...that could be her making a sly dig at the transgendered though....

speedboatchase · 10-03-2011 7:10pm

What is the gender representation like in the council itself I wonder?

questionmark? · 10-03-2011 7:56pm

silverspoon wrote: »

OK, ignoring people being mysogynistic d!cks, whether trying to be funny or not, I knew this would be an issue once I heard the Cabinet makeup. Perhaps the Women's Council would have preferred a Cabinet member with the towering intellect of, say, Mary Coughlan, or the warm caring nature of Mary Harney. I'm very satisfied with the Cabinet makeup, and I don't care if they're hermaphrodite, strap-on wearing gigolos if they're competent and suited to the portfolio they were given. I certainly do not want a portfolio given to a women to pay lip service to anyone.
It was the same with these concerns about geography regarding Cabinet - oh it's too Dublin-centred, they should give a portfolio to a woman from the backyard of Limerick so that all the politically correct boxes are ticked. I'm from Tipperary and I couldn't give a monkeys if Munster is underrepresented in Cabinet. The Cabinet represents national interests, and it's not in the national interest to give a portfolio to a less qualified person on merit of fitting a politically correct profile for the sake of appearances. It's insulting - to the people who deserve a Ministry by virtue of their competence and are overlooked, to the person who gets this job as a pat on the head for being the right gender, and to the wider group that the receiver of this 'affirmative action' represents.

Well said Sir Madam person

speedboatchase wrote: »

What is the gender representation like in the council itself I wonder?

Good point surely if it was made up of just women then that would be discrimination against men by their reckoning.

What are their views I wonder on a large proportion of teachers being women or for that matter the fact beauty therapists tend to be women. I don't hear them shouting in the media that men should get these jobs based on their sex. All jobs should go to whoever warrants it on merit. Personally I couldn't care if every position in the cabinet was filled by women as long as they were best suited for the job and got this country out of the terrible mess that we are in.

Cheap Thrills! · 10-03-2011 8:13pm

Speaking as a woman the likes of 'The Womens Council' is embarassing to my gender with it's double standards nonsense. They don't speak for women in general.

I wish they would fcuk off.

Politics like everything should be a meritocracy.

No to tokenism and gender quotas. I don't care what gender our politicians are as long as they do their jobs right.

ejmaztec · 10-03-2011 8:21pm

Kitchens have cabinets, and they're the only ones of interest to women.

foxinsox · 10-03-2011 8:54pm

ejmaztec wrote: »

Kitchens have cabinets, and they're the only ones of interest to women.

Oh, How right you are Sir!

But you seem to have forgotten that many women also like making sandwiches, knitting, washing dishes and generally looking after their men.

Nolanger · 10-03-2011 8:56pm

Today's Irish Daily Mail has an article stating that about only 10% of women in Holland work full time. Seems they're too smart to compete with men and have careers. Instead they want to enjoy life and realise there are more important things than working in an office. Strange that Holland has lower rates of depression than here and the women are better looking too?

Nodin · 10-03-2011 9:58pm

Nolanger wrote: »

Today's Irish Daily Mail has an article stating that about only 10% of women in Holland work full time..............

...Holland is just a province. The majority of women in the Netherlands work either full or part-time.
http://www.expatica.com/nl/employment/employment_information/75-pc-of-working-women-in-the-netherlands-work-part-time-44866_9782.html

Dangerous Man · 10-03-2011 10:46pm

What really galls me is that our Taoiseach is a woman and the rat women's council won't acknowledge that.

Bullseye1 · 10-03-2011 11:46pm

Why do some elements of government and media in this country continuously bring up the scandanavian countries as being the model we should be aiming for? Do we really want to be as boring as the Swedes

?

donfers · 11-03-2011 12:34am

Joe Costelloe didn't even get a junior ministry, he is one of the hardest working td's around, has been around for years, is regarded is one of the most honorable and decent politicans there is yet didn't even get a junior ministry

what does susan think of that?

who pays her salary by the way? she is banging on about gender apartheid in the papers today and men with brass balls - she is off her rocker and embarrassing her so-called cause

I suggest we replace the national women's council with the national joe's council as the fact that joe costelloe didn't even get a junior ministry position is a national disgrace and is an example of staggeringly joeist behaviour, joeism has no place in the politics of modern Ireland and something just has to be done, did you know joe's get paid 20% less than people with other names (for the purposes of this statistical comparison I am including part-time joes in the calculation but only full time workers with other names), think of the children, other made up statistics etc etc...- government grant and media frenzy please

it's got as much credibility as the national women's council, make it so!

amacachi · 11-03-2011 12:42am

^Neither did Fergus O'Dowd despite getting in on the first count against Gerry Adams and dragging a not great running mate through. Looked set for the education job.

Cheap Thrills! wrote: »

Speaking as a woman the likes of 'The Womens Council' is embarassing to my gender with it's double standards nonsense. They don't speak for women in general.

I wish they would fcuk off.

Politics like everything should be a meritocracy.

No to tokenism and gender quotas. I don't care what gender our politicians are as long as they do their jobs right.

I hope you make it clear to them at your secret weekly meetings. That's right, I know!

Dudess · 11-03-2011 12:46am

The Women's Council are full of sh1t - as Cheap Thrills! says, they do not speak for all women, although that should go without saying...

Alter-Ego wrote: »

Maybe if they introduced a Minister for Kitchens and Ironing. Or a Minister for Sandwiches and Washing Machines. :pac:

I think I'd do a rather bang-up job as Minister for Make-up meself! :pac:

donfers wrote: »

if 14 of the cabinet were women and they proved to be excellent at their jobs then I'd like to think that AH would have no problem with that

Most wouldn't but I'm fairly certain a minority would... unless they're hot of course.

PrincessLola wrote: »

If 14 out of 15 were women there would be no end of bitching about it on AH, about being a "whipped" society living under the control of "teh femnazis" and men claiming their lack of representation in government was victimising them.

I tend to agree - it wouldn't be a majority of posters, but a vocal few, yep.

Gunsfortoys wrote: »

What a load of absolute bollocks.

That, I believe, is the Women's Council's main issue with the current cabinet... :pac:

Cheap Thrills! · 11-03-2011 12:48am

amacachi wrote: »

I hope you make it clear to them at your secret weekly meetings. That's right, I know!

eh?

Do you mean the 'knitting circle', the first rule of 'knitting circle' is we don't mention knitting circle........gah!! :cool:

KH25 · 11-03-2011 12:55am

Absolutely ridiculous. I'm all for equal representation and the like but the job should go to the person best suited for it regardless of their gender.

Jesus Wept · 11-03-2011 12:59am

Joan Burton displayed that she has little or no clue about the economy when she was on Vincent Brown a few weeks ago.
I am greatly relieved that she has nothing to do with it and so should any sane man or woman who lives here.

That being said, we now have a former teacher as the Minister for Finance.
Last time it was a lawyer.

amacachi · 11-03-2011 1:04am

Cheap Thrills! wrote: »

eh?

Do you mean the 'knitting circle', the first rule of 'knitting circle' is we don't mention knitting circle........gah!! :cool:

'kin knew it. Tell that Nell McCafferty one she can take her condoms back home with her when she's going to Derry!

questionmark? · 11-03-2011 1:12am

amacachi wrote: »

'kin knew it. Tell that Nell McCafferty one she can take her condoms back home with her when she's going to Derry!

huh

Rothmans · 11-03-2011 1:26am

I've just been to their website. Their slogan is 'Promoting women's equality'.
Is that not a bit paradoxical? How can you specifically promote equality for one class of people?
It sort of contradicts the meaning of equality. If you're promoting equality then, by the very nature of the word, you ought to be promoting it for everyone.

http://www.nwci.ie/

Women's council critical of Cabinet

Comments