A Non Feminist's Tale

This is a bit of a risky post and a bit more personal than I would normally write. I do, however, feel it is important in this current environment to share some of my story, something I am usually reluctant to do.

The reason why I think it is important to acknowledge that this environment is different is the way there seems to be an increase in the difference in treatment between males and females in the workplace. The difference is subtle and not always easy to identify. It has long been thought that women frequently have to work doubly hard to prove their worth, and are more prone to becoming the scapegoat.

In 2023, QANTAS appointed Vanessa Hudson, a female CEO after a controversial term with Alan Joyce. As CFO for many years, she shared some of the leadership and some of the more controversial economic decisions, but she is unlikely to ever enjoy the glory and accolades that Alan Joyce grew accustomed to. Vanessa Hudson’s salary is a very small fraction of Alan Joyce’s salary, even after Joyce’s dramatic decrease in salary in 2023. Hudson is not the only female CEO to follow a male CEO with some reputational issues to clean up and on less salary.

Some of us held the view that the recently ousted Liberal Party leader, Susan Ley, was always intended as a stop gap after the party’s loss and regarded as expendable. More could be said on the treatment of women leaders in politics in Australia, by both major parties.

Another controversial gender issue that has been in the news in recent times is sexual harassment. Australia held a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to child sexual abuse between 2013 and 2017 which contains many distressing testimonials. These, along with many prominent and disturbing sexual harassment cases means we have a lot more awareness of how such cases are, and should be treated. It is no coincidence that the term ‘gaslighting’ is taken from a movie that deals with gender oppression. I have read through more sexual misconduct investigation reports than anyone should have to read and a common theme is that survivors (they used to be referred to as victims which in itself is problematic enough), are rarely unscathed, and their stories are never straightforward. There is a reason why many chose not to tell their stories, as each retelling is a reliving of the incident, but there are also good reasons why the stories should be retold.

As a young female in the workplace I learnt how to deal with  unwanted propositions, but can recall two incidents that, although not too serious, were more threatening than usual. At no point did it occur to me to report these incidents, as my environment had taught me that this is just what we females have to contend with. With all I know now on the subject, I can see that if I did try to report any of the incidents, they would have fallen on deaf ears and I wouldn’t have had the backbone to see a complaint through.

In addition to being in banking over the past 30 years, I have been actively involved in a number of Christian organizations. I rarely allow myself to speak on these topics in such articles, as I am aware that these articles have a much wider audience. However, I feel it might be relevant to mention in this post that theologically I would regard myself as a complementarian. This is a jargon word in theology that relates to how one understands gender roles in matters of theology. and as with most jargon words, it is open to interpretation. I won’t make any further comment on this in this article however feel free to question me privately if you feel that this may be anomalous to some of the other things I have spoken about and written.

I commenced my banking career in 1979. I spent my first year at Burwood NSW branch, then 6 years on relieving staff then received a promotion as loans officer after 7 years as the youngest loans officer in NSW. Whilst on relieving staff I had frequently filled much higher loans officer positions where I gained higher duties and increased experience. Achieving the promotion after 7 years was significant as in those days, males were entitled to a 50% reduction in home loan rates after 6 months, whereas females were entitled to the same reduction after 8 years, or your first promotion, so by achieving an early promotion, I was able to equal my male counterparts discount one year earlier.

This inequity shaped my thinking going forward to the extent that I would push back whenever higher management teams would refer to my team as ‘girls’ which I felt had a demeaning tone in the way it was used. I have equally pushed back on sexism in the workplace and think of one occasion when an audit manager was in our office (and we all know you don’t upset those who are carrying out your yearly audit). The auditor in question asked me to verify the location of a document which I was able to do fairly easily, despite him and his assistant having looked for the document, to such an extent that his response was that they must have had a ‘man look’. Having a receptionist who was prone to anti male sexism in the office, my response was that I will not tolerate any form of sexism in the office. He was quite taken aback but my reasoning was that no gender should be put down in such a way.

While I don’t like putting my story out there, it is important that we understand the consequences of what may appear to be insignificant comments such as calling women ‘girls’ or ‘chicks’ referring to survivors as victims or other seemingly innocent word uses.

I personally struggle with using the term Mrs, which I do so proudly making the point that having been married for over 45 years, I see this as an achievement worthy of celebrating. But I also acknowledge the inequity of women declaring their marital status in their title, while men do not (yes I know it is now acceptable to use the term Ms). I can assure you that on more than one occasion, I have been unsuccessful in a job application based on my husband’s situation at the time, rather than on my own merits.

Feminism has had many waves, with the third wave being the most influential on the current generation. This was also followed by a male response, often referred to as the iron John era. In Australia, Helen Garner’s book, ‘The First Stone’ was also seen as a counter to the concern that males rights had been adversely affected by the increase in feminism. As a mother of two sons, I was equally concerned about this, especially with the increase in feminization of the education system at that time, but the tide has turned significantly since then. The Royal Commission, the number of sexual harassment cases in the news, and a number of high profile world leaders casting disparaging comments about females has shifted our society again.

Having lived in many low socioeconomic societies and Aboriginal communities, I have seen first hand the impact of oppression of women. I have dealt with young girls being raped in my backyard and the perpetrator not having to face any consequences, friends being killed due to accusations of adultery and then other members of the family being further threatened.

Growing up in a poor inner city environment I remember my confusion when a man  once sought to protect me by walking alongside me on the traffic side of the footpath. He explained that this was what a gentleman did to protect females from potential danger with vehicles. I was brought up with my father walking on the inside of the footpath to protect me from overflowing drunks from hotels.

Feminism takes different forms depending on the oppression or empowerment enjoyed. That there are now more female CEO’s than ever before is significant, despite the obvious disparity in treatment from their male counterparts. There are a lot more women in boardrooms nowadays however their prominence is far greater in voluntary boards rather than paid board positions.

We must challenge any objectification and sexualisation of women. This happens far too easily when we are sloppy with our language. Can we please be more careful when speaking about gender.