women's equality party launched today

[overthemill]

What does MN think? I watched the launch event and was reasonably impressed although it does sound a bit familiar ( not surprisingly). Will if make an impact?

Couldn't find another thread on this so apologies if I'm repeating

[unexpsoc]

I don't agree with all of the policies, and I do not think that the WEP will ever hold a seat in parliament.

However, if they can increase discourse on and consideration of issues around gender equality in parliament in particular and politics in general then they can achieve something positive.

[mollie123]

not all women are concerned with child care and parental leave - think of older women, childless women (single and married)
there are major incidences of 'inequality' between the sexes but I don't think this Women's equality party is the answer

[HamaTime]

I agree with QueenStromba

Like many women I was excited when this started but the policies of eliminating women's safe spaces and 24 hour access for men on maternity wards, plus the dismissive attitude from Sophie Walker as left me thinking it's a load of patriarchal bollocks in suffragettes clothing.

[RortyCrankle]

Totally agree with Queen Stromba and IamTheWhoreofBabylon (cute name ).

I read the thread which Walker was invited to join and she didn't answer any of the very pertinent points put forward - a big fat zero.

[BungoWomble]

"Do you know how I can put this thread somewhere more accessible/visible?"

Um... beyond making a new one with its own title and putting it in Chat, not really. You could try that though.

I tend to agree with others, WEP don't seem particularly focussed on supporting, y'know, actual women and their rights. I'd like to see what they say about the NY sex attacks.

[IamTheWhoreofBabylon]

IMO they are meaningless
They cannot even decide on what a woman is they will end up fighting for trans rights and screw born women

[QueenStromba]

Tell her that I probably would have voted for her but it turns out that WEP's policies are mostly useless or even detrimental to women and that WEP obviously don't give a flying fuck about what we think.

They advocated for a violent criminal with a fully functioning penis to be moved into a women's prison. Our perfectly reasonable questions about this got ignored for a week and when Sophie Walker finally came on to talk to us she obviously hadn't even bothered to read the fucking thread.

So fuck WEP.

[orchidlily]

Thanks very much BungoWomble. I'll pass that on. Do you know how I can put this thread somewhere more accessible/visible?

[BungoWomble]

You could ask her what she thinks of the mass sexual attacks that took place across Europe at New Year, the potential for culture clash they demonstrate between women's rights and islamic beliefs, and what she thinks the UK, the WEP and women in general should do about it. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/in_the_news/2551896-Sex-Attacks-in-Cologne-and-other-European-Cities-Part-VII?pg=20

[howtorebuild]

Catherine is part of the media, she edited papers, wrote a book on POW. She met with all the main parties even trekking by foot across London, during the tube strike, that is one intelligent determined woman.

[claig]

They will succeed in getting lots of media exposure because they are metropolitan and middle class and have lots of media contacts, so the BBC and Channel 4 etc will give them lots of airtime way beyond their political representation, but this is likely to backfire as people begin to feel that favourable treatment is being given to a connected in-crowd to the exclusion of parties which have far more political representation.

Labour with Yvette Coooper and Harriet Harman etc are not too far away from the WE Party anyway, it seems, so they will inevitably be seen as a helper of Labour. However, I think they will have success as a pressure group in a similar way to green pressure groups, because Tory modernisers will want to appear as progressive as possible. So it is a good strategy to form the party as it will gain huge publicity.

[claig]

'why the comparison to UKIP in the earlier mentioned article, does anyone know?'

Because UKIP were successful in getting leaving the EU and a referendum on it onto the agenda of the political classes by building up a People's Aemy which won votes from the mainstream.

The Women's Equality Party are hoping to do a similar thing by outting womens' rights on the agenda of the political classes.

[weeburrower1]

I've yet to read up properly on this but out of curiosity, why the comparison to UKIP in the earlier mentioned article, does anyone know? The article doesn't explain why the comparison has been made.

[overthemill]

Men are involved in WE and globally attempting to change policies that unfairly impact women.

[slug]

Exactly the point I was trying to make. By defining it as a 'women's problem' you ghettoise it. Childcare can be carried out by men too. There's no logical reason why men can't be involved.

We need to stop thinking low pay = women's work.

[squidzin]

children and their care should not be "women's" issues at all
We do live in a society where this is the case, though.

And, err, it is not women defining this for themselves either!

[overthemill]

slug the majority of people working in childcare are women that's why low pay unfairly impacts on women. As suggesting '10 years complete' employment record on an application form unfairly favour men because more women than men take career breaks for caring and childcare responsibilities.

That's why we need the policies over all although individual policies may not be brilliant.

[howabout]

I agree that the other aims are laudable squidzin but the policy on childcare needs more thought and needs to be looked at in the round against how society views responsibility for raising children. I am not sufficiently well versed in French society to comment on their set-up.

The sorts of issues I would need addressed around this policy are:

• family taxation and benefit policy
  
• responsibility of nrps and enforceability of those responsibilities
  
• work related strings attached to state support for raising children
  
• clearly defined distinctions between education and childcare
  
  Actually for me the bottom line is that children and their care should not be a "women's" issue at all and as long as it is viewed as such by women they are defining themselves unequally.

[squidzin]

(oops, double party!)

[squidzin]

None of the WEP party's aims are unattainable. They have all been achieved by one country or another.

Why not aim low and give them a chance on just one of their policies.

[squidzin]

Howabout, look at France though. Free childcare from three months old. And the childcare profession is highly regarded, decently paid, not exceptionally sexist, and you don't see the country falling apart as a result.

[howabout]

Slug the day men are performing the work of care in our society whether paid or unpaid to the extent that women are will be the day I will concede we are at least on a path towards gender equality.

Contracting house repairs, generally though not exclusively, to men costs me approx £50 per hour. Sadly childcare does not appear to be so highly valued and imo never will be as long as government subsidy gives the impression it is "free".

[slug]

Don't you find it a bit sexist to suggest that childcare exploits lowly paid women? For a start, men can wok in childcare too, and secondly, the idea that women contracting out the childcare (and cleaning too) implies that this work is inherently female.

We don't berate men for contracting out lawn mowing or house repairs do we?

[howabout]

Inclined to agree with Silveroldie and I say that as a Mum of a 4 year old.

Any party proposing "free" childcare from 9 months old will never get my backing. To my mind this is the root of the problem rather than the cure and necessitates exploiting some women in low paid childcare roles to advance other women in high paid professional roles.

If high paid women with young children are needed in the workplace, as I believe they are, then they should be paid enough to cover unsubsidised childcare. I believe this will only happen when the subsidies cease and that all women will benefit from the ability to make the choice to take time out while their dc are small.