Horror stories of a feminised workplace' mask the real crisis in male identity | Finn Mackay

"The idea is that too many women in the workplace, and in positions of power, has led to the dominance of stereotypical feminine values, to the detriment of everyone. Girly things like conflict resolution rather than manly plain speaking, fussy HR departments, or a lack of healthy aggressive competition, have all created an imbalance in the workplace and in the world, suppressing stereotypical masculine values."

"The thesis makes two fundamental errors. First, stereotypes attached to femininity don't represent all women, any more than stereotypes about masculinity define all men. Second, nobody needs a feminised world, whatever that nonsense even means, but we all need a feminist world. There's a big difference. For centuries, it was policy to keep women out of education and most professions, although women have, of course, always worked in agriculture, in factories, or in service to rich people."

"Much of this was not in the formal economy, it was cash in hand. Work like childcare, washing or sewing was done at home, rather than in the public sphere. Yet work has always been gendered as masculine, because formal, paid employment outside the home has been seen as the preserve of men. So work comes to define masculinity, and therefore men, being viewed as core to men's identity."

A view calls the workplace a 'Great Feminisation', arguing that women and stereotypical feminine values now dominate, replacing blunt speech with conflict resolution, bolstering HR processes, and reducing aggressive competition. That position portrays these changes as suppressing stereotypical masculinity and threatening men's futures. The position errs by treating feminine stereotypes as representative of all women and by preferring a nebulous 'feminised' world over a feminist world that promotes equality. Historically, policy excluded women from formal education and many professions while women worked in agriculture, factories, domestic service, and unpaid household labor, and paid work was long gendered masculine.

Read at www.theguardian.com