Who has it Harder: Women or Men?

Principle of Charity

Women have, by and large, lived under the yoke of patriarchy, in various forms, for as long as… well, certainly as long as civilisations have existed. So it’s with some trepidation, and a little bit of cheekiness, that we’re airing the headwinds that face women alongside those that face men.

There’s the danger of moral equivalence, where two views are put side by side, giving the impression that they’re both of equal weight, when they’re clearly not. And if our lens was the world as a whole, then there’s no doubt that you can’t compare the headwinds facing women with those of men, as there is still legally sanctioned sex discrimination against women in many countries.

But in this episode we focus in on the west where formal discrimination ended on the tailwind of second wave feminism in the 70s and where there’s a more nuanced and complicated story to tell.

There are now a whole range of areas in which men fare worse than women. From the basics of life expectancy, to drug addiction, to suicide rates, to a job market where traditional female jobs are growing faster than traditional male jobs, there’s real concern for the future of our boys. In a world that rightly wants to open up all opportunities to everyone, regardless of gender is there a way for masculinity to define itself, to find solid ground, without excluding women? And on the other side, why does the feminist goal of true equality still seem out of reach in so many spheres? How do we root out unconscious bias and structural sexism?

Guests

Dr Caroline Lambert

Caroline has worked in gender equality and social change for over 35 years, holding senior roles as the executive director of YWCA Australia, and as the director of research, policy and advocacy at the International Women’s Development Agency. She is a former board chair Women’s Housing, Victoria, former Vice President Amnesty International Australia, director Arts Access, Victoria and current director YWCA Australia. She currently consults to feminist and human rights organisations globally and in Australia.

Matt Tyler

Matt Tyler is Executive Director of The Men’s Project at Jesuit Social Services, working with a team committed to providing leadership on the reduction of violence and other harmful behaviours prevalent among boys and men.

Prior to joining Jesuit Social Services, Matt worked as a Fellow for Harvard’s Government Performance Lab, an economist on Australia’s foreign aid program focused on South-East Asia, a policy adviser to the Australian Labor Party, a strategy consultant for Australia’s largest companies, and a researcher on an Australian Research Council grant seeking to improve Indigenous Australian men’s health. He holds a Master of Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School, Honours in Economics (University Medal) from Monash University, and a B.A (Psychology) / B.Comm (Finance) from the University of Melbourne.

You can be part of the discussion @PofCharity on Twitter, @PrincipleofCharity on Facebook and @PrincipleofCharityPodcast on Instagram.

Your hosts are Lloyd Vogelman and Emile Sherman.

Find Lloyd @LloydVogelman on Linked in

Find Emile @EmileSherman on Linked In and Twitter.

This Podcast is Produced by Jonah Primo and Bronwen Reid

Find Jonah at jonahprimo.com or @JonahPrimo on Instagram

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