Tell me this is not real please. Scotland's first period dignity officer is a man. A MAN.

[Rainbowshit]

I just can't put into words how furious this makes me. Females are having the pis absolutely ripped out of them in Scotland.

What the fuck would a male understand about the indignity of realising you'd leaked through onto your clothes.

About the cold fear when your period is late.

About trying to unwrap a tampon quietly. Etc etc.

I suppose the only saving grace is at least they are not claiming to be a woman.

www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/3593497/dundee-man-leading-period-poverty-fight-how-to-get-free-products/

should either have medical qualifications specific to female biology

What is a "medical qualification specific to female biology" if not being qualified in obstetrics or gynaecology?

Once again, he isn't directing it, he isn't leading it, he is the PM.

He role is to administrate and organise, so that the views of women with lived experience are collated and escalated.

When do we usually see a project manager in the news?

Stop defending his appointment as only the PM. Ask yourself, why the feck is he taking part in the media circus, with nicely staged pictures of him addressing a mother and daughter if he’s
‘just the project manager’?

As I said, we clearly are diametrically opposed on this, so let's just agree to disagree. I'm not going to waste my time debating with someone who thinks a man is the right person to spearhead a campaign about women's services and rights. You're entitled to your perspective, as am I. We're not even close in agreeing on this.

We disagree because you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what a 34K PM role would entail, and what "engaging" actually means in the context of the job description.

No I don't think the campaign should be "spearheaded by a man", but that's not what this role is. @SpidersAreShitheads

Because his leadership has told him to. Because government public affairs regularly publish press releases about brand new positions with the face of who they hired for the job posed with the target demographic they will be supporting.
This isn’t unusual in the least.

I need to find a job raising awareness for all people who grow smegma to pull back their foreskin.
This campaign will embolden girls and boys to understand the hidden subject of foreskin.
my womanly face will be front and center holding court about foreskin with a young boy and his dad.

Honestly. The mangled language, the misplaced focus, the arrogance of role modeling where you don't know the issues. PM'ing, sure knock yourself out. This whatever it is beggars belief. It's just wrong on so many levels.

Totally agree @Discovereads

As a graduate I was PM for a project looking at FGM in the UK, and how we could better support those at risk. The role had a similar salary.

I am white, no lived experience of FGM.

I liased with experts (I.e. religious leaders, gynaes, midwives), "engaged with the community" (which meant organising focus groups and suitable people to lead them), set up PPI and co-consultancy (i.e., when you get patients to inform how the research is going to be run) and recruited people with lived experience to the face of the campaign, alongside all the admin and grunt work.

This is what being a PM is.

Not unusual doesn't make it right.
Maybe it is finally time to call out the BS?
His line management is wrong to put him in this position if what you assume is actually the case.
It is totally tone deaf.
It's like the soldier defence of "because I was ordered to". It doesn't always wash.

I'm guessing you weren't arrogant enough to become a role model for FGM survivors then?

It’s not wrong to inform the public about the jobs of the new positions they create. Object all day to how poorly an article is written, but that doesn’t mean their hiring decision was wrong.

No misunderstand here, thanks. I am perfectly clear what project management involves and prior to going freelance, worked way above this corporate level myself. You are making spectacular leaps based on your OWN experience of project management, ignoring the indications that this isn't a regular project management role. I don't know why but it appears to be some bizarre quest to explain away why it's such a fantastic idea to appoint a bloke to spearhead a woman's project. In his own words, he wants to be the "positive male role model" - he's the face and driving force behind this campaign on both sides of the camera. The very definition of spearheading.

However, as I've said twice before, there's no point discussing this with each other as we clearly disagree on every aspect.

Just letting everyone know that The Onion is a famous parody fake news site. The articles are all works of fiction designed for entertainment.

I'm guessing you weren't arrogant enough to become a role model for FGM survivors then?

Where has he had said he's going to be a role model for menstrurating/menopausal women? @Blister

He talks about being role model in the context of getting more men talking about and supportive of these issues. I don't see how this is a bad thing.

After that project I definitely made a huge effort to dispel myths around FGM and increase understanding of why it was such an important issue, among my white friends who knew barely anything about it.

Again it seems people are either deliberately misunderstanding, or being taken in by that media article which was designed to get a reaction and clicks.

Discovereads
£33k is peanuts for a PM job tbh. Besides many female PMs I know would not apply for such a job. At least of those in my age group who started out thirty years ago.

We had to fight to not be given projects regarding womens issues coming up. For example, back in 1997 I raised holy hell over being given the project management of child care centre provision on military bases and demanded I be put on project management of the firefighter equipment, vehicles and training on military bases. It was obvious my supervisor thought my skills and work experience were less important than the fact I had a uterus. PM is a male dominated career field and quite often that sexist view of women PMs should do the “womanly” projects involving babies or overseeing the mess (feeding people) and leave the more “manly” projects like firefighting or weapons and ammunition supply to FOPs to the male PMs.

Periods is a “womanly” project and I feel this insistence it must be a female PM is literally calling for the reinstatement of the sexist glass ceiling that kept we female PMs from being hired for or assigned the “manly” projects which were always deemed to be the more important projects most likely to get you up the career ladder to Director level. It’s putting that glass ceiling back in place imho. So you can see why I’m an viscerally against the arguments on here.

Its a double edged sword. You demand that we regress thirty years of feminist progress, go back to when only a female PMs can do ‘womanly projects’ you can be sure that will also mean that only male PMs can do ‘manly projects’.

You honestly do not need to be an expert on whatever you are project managing to be the PM. I’ve never run into a burning building, but I was a damn good PM for the firefighter stations.

Firstly, I am aware of the role a PM performs.

Secondly, I was making the point that based on his profile, he does not seem to have relevant and appropriate experience. If this was a true PM role, then obviously the salary is wholly inappropriate. Let's be honest though, it is not really a PM role and I think if you read some of Jason's quotes even he does not see it as a PM role.

Do people not see a male gynecologist? Should some jobs only be male or female ?

No female doctors allowed to do vasectomies , prostate surgery etc?

I honestly don't see the problem in a male ensuring a supply of menstral products to schools etc.

Bonkers thinking only a woman can do this

@Queenoftheflumps02 Absolutely right. The job description talks about working in outreach directly with the community during the evening. Hardly what you'd expect from an invisible project management role....

I am perfectly clear what project management involves and prior to going freelance, worked way above this corporate level myself.

So it appears from the above that you have no actual PM experience, and what you do have was working “way above this corporate level” so in a non PM management type position in the private sector.

You do realise PM is very different in the public sector than in the private sector? There’s nothing in the job description indicating this is anything other than a regular project management role. Everything you keep quoting are top level organisational goals put in the article….not his actual job description or his job.

I wanted to double check, and yup the period dignity working group is made up of four female experts.

So great, they have now recruited a PM who will do the administrative work.

In anything this is a role reversal where a man is doing the grunt work for female led group.

If these women raise concerns or complaints, that I would take very seriously.

@Queenoftheflumps02
Secondly, I was making the point that based on his profile, he does not seem to have relevant and appropriate experience. If this was a true PM role, then obviously the salary is wholly inappropriate. Let's be honest though, it is not really a PM role and I think if you read some of Jason's quotes even he does not see it as a PM role.

I wouldn’t says that as it’s an appropriate salary for entry level PM. Which is what he appears to be. Also the article makes no mention of formal PM qualifications, for all we know he could have gotten his PRINCE2 certification while working his prior jobs. Many people do such things when they want to make a career change.

It is a PM role per the job description. His quotes don’t indicate otherwise as he’s talking about the overall goals his work will be contributing to along with other members of the project team.

The Period Dignity Working Group comprises Katie Baxter (Dundee and Angus College), Shelley Hague (Angus Council), Jill Brash (Dundee City Council) and Deborah Lally (Perth College).

A spokesperson for the Working Group added, “Taking a regional approach is the best way forward for us as it ensures we are maximising our funding, resources and the wealth of knowledge across our organisations for the benefit of our Tay Cities. Employing Jason was a no-brainer with his vast experience in project management from both the private and public sectors, coupled with his passion for making a difference to the people in our community, period!”

You've made a lot of incorrect assumptions there.

Rather than explaining my CV in detail to you (which I'd rather not do for various reasons which have nothing to do with this thread), I'm just going to point to the part in his job description which refers to him working out in the communities directly during the evening. It's not a simple PM role, although clearly there are aspects of it.

If you think that he can understand the issues that women face with menstruation and menopause, you think that young girls will relate to a young man and feel comfortable that their voice is well-represented by him, if you believe that a man with no prior knowledge or experience of women's health should be the public face of a campaign about menstruation and menopause, then we don't have any common ground.

The job description makes it very clear he's expected to be visible, to be the face of the campaign, and to engage directly with the communities with outreach activities, in addition to the PM duties. I feel he's wholly inappropriate and not remotely comparable to men in other positions such as gynaecologist (which PP have cited).

I think we're going round in circles here so as I said to a PP, probably pointless continuing this because we're both bashing our heads against a brick wall and getting nowhere.

Because it’s not just organising the supply it’s effectively spearheading the new role of period dignity. That’s why he’s in the paper.

If you think that he can understand the issues that women face with menstruation and menopause, you think that young girls will relate to a young man and feel comfortable that their voice is well-represented by him, if you believe that a man with no prior knowledge or experience of women's health should be the public face of a campaign about menstruation and menopause, then we don't have any common ground.

Once again, this is not what his role is.

You seem to be ignoring that fact that the working group, who will be dealing with this, is entirely female.

Yep. As a PM you are given your marching orders by the leadership and you execute to their requirements. You’re not permitted to insert your own requirements or change theirs as you’re not an expert in whatever you are project managing. You’re there to do the grunt work of making the experts vision reality, on schedule and under budget.

As I said earlier, these women are the experts who actually know what Jason's role will be, and how he will be involved in the project.

They were happy with the recruitment.

His job description explicitly says he is required to work directly with the communities in the evening on outreach activities. He's also required to maintain a media presence. He is a spearhead.

Once again, see previous comments.

You seem to be ignoring the facts that don't suit your rhetoric.

Feel free to move onto other poster's comments who back up your view. We've already established we have no common ground. This is pointless.