Read an interesting article written by a good friend about women and the work place. The following is my response. Please note that i am very much in favour of women's rights; all i note in my response are practical questions that any realistic analysis of the issue should consider.
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I completely agree with you on many points. But consider the following.
Women are biologically different from men in many senses, but most notably in the child-bearing sense. Women can, men can't.
A career woman who chooses to have children is normally well protected under current labour laws. She is given leave to care for her child post-natal. In some cases, she is given A-class medical treatment on the company tab. These are all very good things.
But the fact remains that if a woman has a child once a year, she will be away from the office for up to 2 months each time. Even with the advent of technology that allows her to work away from the office, realistically, how much time can she spend away from her duties as a mother in those first few critical months of motherhood, not to mention the incredible physical strain she has to recover from.
The point is, how many companies can afford to have personnel in key positions i.e. manager-level and above away from the office 1/6 of the year (not including normal annual leave + non-natal medical leave)?
Is the alternative to put off motherhood? If it is, then is this something many women, no matter how "liberated" in their thinking, are prepared to accept?
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