Men discriminated against from cradle to grave according to Dominic Raab MP

[JustineMumsnet]

Writing in an article on Politics Home, Dominic Raab MP for Esher and Walton has written:

"It is almost taboo for a man to question the assertion that the rapidly dwindling pay gap is the result of discrimination, rather than genuine choice. The debate has been consumed by the prejudice it seeks to purge."

"While we have some of the toughest anti-discrimination laws in the world, we are blind to some of the most flagrant discrimination ? against men. From the cradle to the grave, men are getting a raw deal. Men work longer hours, die earlier, but retire later than women. "

Then there is the more subtle sexism. Men caused the banking crisis. Men earn more because they are more assertive in pay negotiations. One FT commentator recently complained that: ?High-flying women are programmed to go for high-flying men. Most men aren?t attracted to women who are more successful than they are.? Can you imagine the outrage if such trite generalisations were made about women, or other minorities? Feminists are now amongst the most obnoxious bigots."

"You can?t have it both ways. Either you believe in equality or you don?t. If you buy into the whole Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus theory of gender difference ? with all its pseudo science - you can?t then complain about inequalities of outcome that flow both ways from those essentially sexist distinctions."

What do you think MNetters?

FFS! Retirement age is being aligned to be the same for men and women. Men no longer die younger than women. In recent years it's worked out about the same age.

Yes we have loads of anti-sex discrimination legislation but you try telling that to women who've been discriminated against for taking maternity leave and are understandably not keen to spend £100,000 on legal costs at tribunal for a case she might not win or get any where near enough to cover the costs.

Where the hell is he getting this shite from?

And what elephants so eloquently said earlier.

I just listened to him. Epic mainsplaining.

ROFL @ "epic mansplaining"

I am astounded at the selfish, short sighted bullshit he spouted. If he said this about an actual minority, he'd be sacked.

According to the last available figures from the Fawcett Society, women still earn on average 17% less per hour than men for doing the equivalent role in the workplace for a full-time job. And for part-time, the figures actually get worse. The average woman is paid 36% less than a man doing the equivalent part-time role. When you get into London, this rises to 45 per cent.

Raab's figures are clearly a figment of his warped, paranoid imagination.

It's not "taboo" for a man to question the assertion that the rapidly dwindling pay gap is the result of discrimination rather than genuine choice. People don't say it because it's a stupid thing to say.

Is he really trying to suggest that women get paid less than men through choice? Whose choice? If it's the choice of the female employees then I'd love to see his evidence to back that up. If it's the choice of the employers then that is self-evidently discrimination.

I'd have thought someone trained as a lawyer should be able to come up with a more coherent argument than this.

I do mildly agree with him that there can be bias against fathers in child custody cases. But that's for many and varied reasons, a large proportion of which are much more to do with men than women - patriarchal society's established roles for one and the depressingly large proportion of absent fathers for another. I don't see it as a stick to beat feminism with. Even those women who do abuse the system to illegitimately deny fathers access aren't doing it as a feminist stance.

why was he on the radio - what was the context?
was it 'man writes brave and courageous taboo-breaking article' or 'Tory MP forced to defend outrageous statements'?
Is Cameron supporting him?

the latter I think SSM. The presenter (sorry can't remember who it was) was spluttering with disbelief at the shite being spouted, put it that way.

I hope Cameron sacks him, or at least disciplines him very hard, and not in the way that Tory MPs enjoy.

I see a lot of female votes evaporating from the Conservative party over this.

The bloke doing the interview on the radio (don't know who it was either) was pretty good. God knows why it was almost at the top of the news though.

because to have an arsehole as big as this actually helping to run the country is a serious matter for all of us?

Can I listen to the interview anywhere online?

Here you go ISNT, link.

Presenter was Eddie Mair, and discussion on this chap begins at about 50mins 30secs in. (Incidentally, discussion about sexism in football is the item before if you're interested).

yy, Elephants, and BeenBeta amongst others. And is ever you needed proof that an Oxford education is not the be-all and end-all, here it (he) is.

It is amazing how many things seem to be feminism's fault (especially given our lack of power and influence)!

Boys doing badly in schools - feminism's fault.

Men die younger - feminism's fault.

Unequal custody rights - feminism's fault.

Men in low paid hard manual jobs - feminism's fault.

And on and bloody on. Surely anyone with half a brain can see that these things are the result of a patriarchal capitalist system. And it sure ain't being run by feminists.

I have low expectations, evidently But Eddie Mair did at least try to push this tory tool on the low numbers of women executives (when the tory tool was whining about men getting blamed for the banking crisis).

I think I'm going to refer to Raab's article as ;

"The Mother Of All What About The Menz"

Is anyone else thinking this comes under "Backlash" as per this months book club book?

Elephants - love your reply. There's nothing to be added to that

Bless him, he must really believe he got to be an MP on merit.

Apparently he likes getting emails about stuff too

Did you see this comment under the article?

"All you have to do is post a message on Mumsnet giving the impression that you are even slightly accepting or tolerant of a flaw in your male partner to find out what obnoxious bigots many feminists can be ? with a degree of hair-trigger aggression which they would condemn in any man."

That's us. Scary Marys to a woman

Do you think he's actually mastered the art of time travel and comes here from, say, 1911? He's clearly not at all comfortable with the twenty-first century or, it would appear, the latter half of the twentieth. I can't think of any other rational explanation.

Changing the subject, did anyone else see the trailer for "Posh and Posher" on BBC2 at 9pm on Wednesday here. Think that might prove interesting (if infuriating).