However, this divide is a great contrast to what it was just a few decades ago, and this is shown by the increase of female employees in the workplace. For example, in the UK there are now a total of there is now a total of 192,580 women working in UK IT jobs, a rise of a third from last years figures. The number of women getting into “above average”, or over £40,000 p.a. jobs has trebled in the last ten years, and is set to increase by another sixth in the next two years. As well as this, women’s’ achievements in the workplace are now being shown in the media. Of the thirty-two consultants on Holby City and Casualty, twenty-five were women, according to data from the BBC. This shows that women are being more readily recognised as top earners, and that the position that they are in is improving dramatically from what it was. Furthermore, one of the main complaints of women in the work place, sexual harassment is falling- there was a halving of complaints filed last year from the previous. All of these factors combine to show that although women are not yet at equality with men, this process is happening, and as everyone knows it will not happen overnight.
A second example of perceived discrimination is in sport, and in terms of pay. One of the greatest examples of this is at Wimbledon. A long term complaint of women tennis players is that they are not paid equally for achievement in the championships, and that men receive far more money. However, in 2008 £700,000 went to both the means’ and women’s’ singles champions, and £350,000 went to both runners up. Therefore equal pay has been introduced at Wimbledon, showing that treatment of women in sport is improving. However, there are other cases that are not as rosy- there are no women drivers in Formula One, for example, and sports in which women are equally featured are covered much less by the media. For example, Premier League football rights were bought for £2.7 billion for 2007-10, and approximately four matches are shown live per weekend. Women’s football often has four matches broadcast per year, and their finals are played at League grounds, unlike the showpiece Wembley and Millennium Stadium finals. This shows that women in sport are low profile. However, this is not entirely the case.
In the example of Wimbledon, it could be perceived that the discrimination is in fact warranted in terms of pay. Men play five sets maximum per match and women only play three. Furthermore, in the early rounds of Wimbledon an average of 60% of women’s matches are only two sets, contrasted with just 43% of men’s matches only lasting the minimum of three sets. Therefore, discrimination in pay could be said to now be against men, as women receive a greater amount of money per hour played of tennis, which is discriminatory. Furthermore, there is no rule against women drivers competing in Formula One, simply not enough women have been taking up the sport for their participation to gain high profile. The final argument is much more economic. The cost of opening and running Wembley stadium for one game is in excess of £5 million. The women’s FA Cup Final attendance is on average just 29,765 people, just over a quarter of the capacity of Wembley. It is not economically viable to use a large stadium for an event like this, therefore what is seen as discrimination is more a case of economic sense, something invaluable, especially at this time.
The final point of note is that of media representation, particularly in terms of crime and fashion. In the fashion industry women are shown as beautiful when they are extremely slim, often too slim, blonde and wearing little clothing. This discrimination stretches deeper- models are often turned away if they are not a certain size. One model was dropped because she gained a single pound in weight from when she applied for and got the job- at her old weight of just 7 stone. Furthermore, media representation of women and crime is also a key point. The reported rape and domestic violence cases last year in all major national newspapers, 93.6% of them featured the women as the victim in both cases. However, a survey by the charity NCDV, National Centre for Domestic Violence, found that the spread of cases was 57%-43% with the women as the victim. So where is the coverage of the male cases? Rape cases tell a similar story- the balance being 64-36, again in favour of women, but again posing the question of where the coverage of female to male violence is.
Discrimination against men is not only confined to media coverage of abuse however. Custody of children is a huge issue in this case. Many men are refused custody of their children in court cases, with 74% of cases last year being won by women, and in a divorce a man has a 1 in 3 chance of losing his home and children, with a 1 in 6 chance for women. Health is another issue. Dedicated systems of scanning for breast and cervical cancer have been set up and proved successful, billions of pounds has been spent on advertising this and the dangers of these diseases. However, there is no such system in place for testicular and prostate cancer. What is worrying is that the death rates for these are as high as breast cancer. A final point is levels of violence- in a Market Opinion and Research International (MORI) poll, 13% of women said they had suffered domestic violence, compared to 18% of men. Although fear may be an issue, this poll was voluntary and independent. These points show that men also receive discrimination, which should not be ignored.
In conclusion, it is true that women are not yet treated equally to men. They are still discriminated against in places like the workplace and the world of sport. However, emphasis on this discrimination, and the efforts taken to try and relieve it, are a lot greater than those used to decrease the levels of male discrimination. It is clear therefore that while women deserve to be treated equally to men, the greatest effort must be made to ensure that this equation does not swing the other way- equality must always have two sides.
