Could the IET Women's Network benefit from a male's perspective

I might be reading this wrong but I think the original statement of shouting louder what more metaphorical rather than literal.  Certainly I have never worked in an environment where it has been acceptable for anyone to shout to get their point of view across regardless of gender.

 

Then again, I may have been lucky in the fact I have never felt marginalised in any place I have worked or studied in my 14 year career in engineering.  I have never had anyone tell me I’m not as good as my male counterparts or at least no one had dared to say it to my face.

 

I certainly think male contribution to the debate is vital, otherwise we are only preaching to the choir and are at risk of getting too one-sided in our thoughts on the subject without having the balance of the other side of the argument.

 

I have only encountered one man who I could label as very sexist in his opinions.  I am not certain how much of it is genuine and how much is his sense of humour as he enjoys getting rises out of people.  He has come out with the more bizarre statements that I genuinely don’t know what to make of him (the silliest being woman shouldn’t work offshore as they cannot climb ladders!!).  However when I have had intelligent discussions with him regarding issued such as equal pay he has made certain observations that have made me stop and think.

 

My conclusion is we can’t debate and hope to gain any headway without first knowing what the genuine thoughts and attitudes are from the people who are against the changes.  With this in mind can we gain much from the “male” perspective in a discussion on the womens network? The likelihood is any man who wants to join the network is naturally going to be more up to date in his attitude towards women in the first place.

I might be reading this wrong but I think the original statement of shouting louder what more metaphorical rather than literal.  Certainly I have never worked in an environment where it has been acceptable for anyone to shout to get their point of view across regardless of gender.

 

Then again, I may have been lucky in the fact I have never felt marginalised in any place I have worked or studied in my 14 year career in engineering.  I have never had anyone tell me I’m not as good as my male counterparts or at least no one had dared to say it to my face.

 

I certainly think male contribution to the debate is vital, otherwise we are only preaching to the choir and are at risk of getting too one-sided in our thoughts on the subject without having the balance of the other side of the argument.

 

I have only encountered one man who I could label as very sexist in his opinions.  I am not certain how much of it is genuine and how much is his sense of humour as he enjoys getting rises out of people.  He has come out with the more bizarre statements that I genuinely don’t know what to make of him (the silliest being woman shouldn’t work offshore as they cannot climb ladders!!).  However when I have had intelligent discussions with him regarding issued such as equal pay he has made certain observations that have made me stop and think.

 

My conclusion is we can’t debate and hope to gain any headway without first knowing what the genuine thoughts and attitudes are from the people who are against the changes.  With this in mind can we gain much from the “male” perspective in a discussion on the womens network? The likelihood is any man who wants to join the network is naturally going to be more up to date in his attitude towards women in the first place.