Thai editorial: A battle we must all wage

[webfact]

EDITORIAL
A battle we must all wage
The Nation

The fight for women's equality requires collective efforts to eliminate the prejudice and hypocrisy that are prevalent at all levels of society

BANGKOK: -- This Sunday marks the centenary of women's rights as an international concern. The day represents an opportunity to celebrate achievements made over the decades, but also to acknowledge that woman's battle for equality is far from won. The sad truth is that, after all these years, women around the world still cannot claim they enjoy the same rights as men.

The infringement of rights occurs everywhere, regardless of the size of the economy or the nation's political model. Hollywood actress Patricia Arquette delivered a powerful statement about equality in her recent Oscar acceptance speech, receiving cheers and loud applause from her fellow actors. High-profile plaudits also came from Hillary Clinton. "She's right - it's time to have wage equality once and for all," said Clinton, speaking at a Silicon Valley women's conference.

The Oscar-winning actress' speech reflects the fact that even women in developed and supposedly egalitarian countries like the United States do not yet enjoy equality. There is still much work to be done by feminists and rights advocates.

Arquette used her speech to call attention to the pay gap between women and men. Though some countries enshrine the right to equal pay in law, women the world over are still paid less than men. Behind this fact lie deeply entrenched prejudices that require collective efforts and clear vision to overcome.

Half of the world's population still suffers inequality in many forms and at every age level. Countless girls are denied educational opportunities, while many women are still yearning for the right to drive. The discrimination varies, but it has the same root cause of bias against women, an attitude so deeply ingrained in many societies that it reaches beyond the efforts of laws to curb it and prevents women from living free and independent lives.

In Thailand, despite the efforts of various organisations and advocates, women's rights receive little attention. It takes the intervention of a politician or celebrity to put them, briefly, in the spotlight. Supporters of former premier Yingluck Shinawatra have rightly accused some of her opponents of sexism in their attitudes towards her. But those same attitudes are widespread in Thai society and rarely challenged in everyday life.

Thai authorities and the public must shift their focus from high-profile name-calling and instead address the underlying issue. Sexual harassment and domestic violence against women and girls are still common in Thailand, as are forms of inequality in the workplace. And the struggle against such discrimination belongs to every one of us, not just to feminists and rights advocates. To win this fight in Thailand, we require collective efforts to eliminate the prejudice and hypocrisy that are prevalent at all levels of society.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/A-battle-we-must-all-wage-30255303.html


-- The Nation 2015-03-04

[BSJ]

I haven't met all the woman in Thailand....yet, but the ones I have met aren't harping on about woman's rights.

There are some woman I see who may have issues, but the number of woman who are beaten and abused would be small in comparison to the total number of woman.

"There is still much work to be done by feminists and rights advocates." That about sums it up. People with a chip on their shoulder going after a issue!

[WhamBam]

I never once met a Thai woman concerned about 'Women's Lib' or women's rights either.

In Thailand I find women going out to work but they are not feminists. They are not shouting about their rights as they do in the West.

No bra burning going on - though the padding in most might make a small bonfire

[Godders]

I haven't met all the woman in Thailand....yet, but the ones I have met aren't harping on about woman's rights.

There are some woman I see who may have issues, but the number of woman who are beaten and abused would be small in comparison to the total number of woman.

"There is still much work to be done by feminists and rights advocates." That about sums it up. People with a chip on their shoulder going after a issue!

Thank you for those (mercifully few) enlightening and insightful words. Now go back to sleep.

[wabothai]

women's rughts where? In the west they have all the right they want, that is if they want it.

[Daniel Ingalls]

It all started maybe 1 million years ago when the first cavemen bumped a female on the side of the head with a club (which

later we called a baseball bat) ever since then they have been howling unfair! We have the babies, we do the nursing, and

rearing up the children until old enough to bat their own womenfolk. Enough is enough,.............so since then woman have

been battling for more freedom, especially freedom from brain bashing men with bats. It took a few hundred thousand years

until the unheard of idea....lets let the females vote. Lets let them drive a car, let's allow them to work, lets let them do what they want. Men became frustrated with woman ideas at all levels and started forming clubs for men only. But no, the womenfolk posted not fair, they eventually got their way in. Just recently now girls want to get into the den of the Boy Scouts!

A long time traditional avenue for boy, to mature into manhood...........(at this moment you probably thinking.....where is this going?) well, Now is the time for us to take a step backward and once again grab that bat and............Its a home Run!

Edited March 4, 2015 by Daniel Ingalls

[BB24]

What a lot of krapp - this is an irrelevent subject in Thailand - and long may it remain so.

Just ask yourself - who are happier? Women in the West or the Women over here?

Dumb western women have been 'conned' by the looney left media (driven by 'alternative' lifestylers like Germain Greer, Billy Jean King, etc etc).

In many ways they are better than men, and in some ways they are inferior, but they will never be equal - they are far too smart for that over here.

[Thai at Heart]

80% of all Thais are discriminated against.

20% are pooyais and the rest not.

[seajae]

gender pay gap, you only have to look at the fact that they include every job and do not use those doing the same work to see this is a farce. How in the hell do you pay a barrister/coffee shop worker the same money as a high rise building worker, a toilet cleaner the same as a licensed plumber/electrician/builder, it isnt feasable but the numbers look better when the feminists that organize these bullsh*t results get what they want. Maybe when the women start doing the same hard, dirty work that their male counterparts do they will get the same money, in some countries this is already enshrined in law, the same job gets the same pay rates so it isnt a matter of being paid less its a matter of being paid for what you actually do and women in most cases do not want to do the same jobs men do. I know plenty of females in the building industry in Australia that were earning the same money as the men, they didnt care about getting their hands dirty or crawling in the mud so they earnt the same wage, all it takes is for females to want to do the work then apply for the jobs which they simply refuse to do, its too much to expect them to get dirty hands, broken nails and messed up hair to earn good money. Parents need to stop telling their sons they are gods and number one as well here as a lot of thai males think everyone is subservient to them, especially women, they need to realize everyone has the same rights and stop treating others as second citizens there for the bidding/pleasure and that women do not have to spread their legs whenever they want them to or fetch their drinks/meals etc but I doubt his will happen here for a long time if at all.

[longway]

Feminists are not interested in anything except their own self-interest. There is no gender wage gap, everyone gets the same wage for the same job, what there is a gap in the types of jobs men and women choose, and the time taken off for bringing up families.

Its personal choice in the end and this is something feminists battle agaimst, it seems only they are entitled to know how we should live our lives.

Edited March 4, 2015 by longway

[Srikcir]

The issue of women's equality in 3rd world nations and emerging nations that includes Thailand is particularly difficult to discern. When the whole of society - men, women, and children - suffers repression of basic human rights and liberties, the divide of women's discrimination is blurred. Where the sovereignty of a nation's people is repeatedly throttled by military suppression, women seem to fall into the "same boat" syndrome." Their inequality is shared by the whole of society, thus achieveing a false sense of equality.

Until Thai society has guaranteed protection of rights and liberties for ALL Thais, the issue of Thai women's inequality becomes a distraction. And there can be no meaningful dialog on the issue.

Edited March 4, 2015 by Srikcir