That this company really just don’t get it (International Women’s Day)?

[CottonBallsUp]

I got an email from Hawsmoor restaurant today, International Women’s Day. Here’s the first paragraph (the bold is my emphasis.): ‘Hawksmoor without women. Just imagine it! Dull. Disorganised. And, to be honest, just not anywhere near as good. From our food and service to a better understanding of how to properly look after our staff, the women of Hawksmoor define (and refine!) us.’ Am I just being over sensitive in my feminist sensibilities (YABU) or are they basically commending the women in their team for doing warm and wooly wife-work (YANBU)?

It's the quote, "women define ... us "that's annoying too, as if women are excluded from the target audience and it's written by and for men.

And another -

readingmate.co.uk/what-international-womens-day-teaches-our-children/

It’s so obviously written by a man isn’t it? And you’re right, for men too. Condescending crap.

Oh my goodness, the readingmate link “ Let’s start with our boys…” well yes, things usually do don’t they

[quote Taffy8567]And another -

readingmate.co.uk/what-international-womens-day-teaches-our-children/[/quote]
This is fucking OUTRAGEOUS

I may be way off the mark here, but it feels a bit like Valentines day to me - a sense of lets celebrate women/love on this one and only specially appointed day, when actually that is a bit meaningless and women/love can and should be celebrated on any day of the year. And Mother's Day - be nice to your mother every flipping day.

I clocked that too and though wide work straight away.

For the other 364 days of the year we are supposed to "know our place" are we?

YANBU. Tweet it and link to every feminist organisation you can think of.

It's like all the companies deleting their IWD tweets once the Gender Pay Gap Bot account tweets that the median wage of women is 45% lower in that company.

I find it cringeworthy, but suspect the poor schmuck who wrote it is probably quite a well-meaning man.

I prefer Women's Day in places like Russia, where it's a paid public holiday.

Bloody hell that readingmate page 🤯🤯!! And yeah, Hawksmoor, would you like us to wipe your arses too while we're down here?

I notice none are in decision making roles. Very telling. I wouldn’t count a head chef or branch manager as particularly able to make decisions in such a homogenous chain.

Surely it depends on their staff make up though? If the only female staff are young waitresses on NMW then it would seem condescending but if they have female restaurant managers or supervisors/owners/events coordinators/chefs/bar managers/admin staff etc as well as waitresses then I think that highlighting the influence they have had on the company is only a good thing.

If the restaurant has female staff who are the ones to come up with creative ideas for advertising, sorts the rotas/orders/payroll/bookings/event planning/cooking/ etc then I don't see why it's wrong to say that without them the place would be "Dull and disorganised" because its a factual statement based on what their job does - keeps the place running smoothly and somewhere people want to visit.

As for the "better understanding of how to properly look after our staff" I don't think it's a bad thing to acknowledge that sometimes it can take different perspectives to change things up for the better? Maybe they have female staff members who challenged existing policies and procedures because they disadvantaged them but nobody had considered them before because the big bosses/male staff had never considered those issues before? I think it's good to highlight that employees can make their work environment better if they speak up and advocate for themselves, especially on IWD where we are supposed to be empowering women to get what they deserve.

Hawksmoor alway try to be right on
In reality they are a posh pub for people with too much money who want to get sloshed whilst sitting down

I also received the Hawksmoor email and found it thought provoking.

There's definitely stuff wrong with it, and it's not well thought through, but it highlighted the fact that there are two different facets to valuing women's labour.

Society needs to allow and acknowledge girls and women to get the big flashy high paid jobs: chefs, directors, maitre d's. But it also needs to value the roles which in practice, at the moment, are currently done by women: the HR, the admin, the general arse-wiping. Acknowledging that these roles are actually essential, and currently largely done by women, without implying that this is all that women are fit for, is a balancing act somewhat beyond the skills of the bloke who writes the Hawksmoor mailshots.

@littlepeas well put. I'm sure many company male bosses will be misogynists on the other 364 days a year (and the Prime Minister on 365).

I would have assumed that the mentions of "disorganised" and "looking after our staff" are referencing admin and HR roles, which are predominantly women in my experience. Not something I would get too het up about.

Good to see these companies being taken to task on twitter!

Some interesting perspectives here and I see what people are saying about types of roles predominantly staffed by females. However I still think we should question why it’s generally women in these roles, which are typically are less well paid and held in lower regard. The Hawksmoor post just seems utterly oblivious to any underlying equality issues and felt tone deaf on IWD. I’m off to Twitter now to see what people are saying!

Women as support humans for men - working hard to define men. (Because if women are included in us it doesn’t really work does it). Dickheads.

For me, what it comes down to is this concept of "celebrating" IWD. I don't think IWD should be a celebration. It should be a day to really focus on women's issues and the challenges they face.

So, in the case of Hawksmoor - it's all very well telling us about the lifework your staff do (and I agree with a PP, it's one of those ones where you have to look at reality - ie that women DO do all this shit, at home and work so it's worth acknowledging - vs the goal ie that women are equally represented and do equal work).

Ditto that ridiculous blog. It's not about being biased against boys because there isn't an international boys day. It's about highlighting that girls and women NEED a day where the world looks at them.

A client used IWD to write on her blog about breaking the bias in the context of how shit it is that she's one of the few women with a c-level role in her industry and how the INDUSTRY (not other women) should fix it.

YANBU.

Although, to be honest, the ITV adverts with all their female presenters in pink dresses irritated me too.

I might just be being grumpy.

the women of Hawksmoor define (and refine!) us.
Refine? This in particular stood out to me. Like our delicate little selves are taming and reigning in the big manly men.

Although, to be honest, the ITV adverts with all their female presenters in pink dresses irritated me too. it did me too. It further infuriated me that the class photo of said women in pink dresses wasn't shown for long enough for me to spot a transwoman - that way I would have been really pissed off, in a satisfied kind of way!