A lonely dispatch from
Estonia’s only feminist.
I never had a sister. I’m told this is why I don’t
understand women.
A business group I’m a part of recently organized an event
for their female membership: a fashion show. Had they asked me – they didn’t –
I would have told them the event would do nothing to help women be taken
seriously. I mean, why not have a quilting bee or a pole dancing class?
Given the fact that salaries for Estonian women are 30
percent lower on average than salaries for Estonian men, it seems to me that women ought to exert effort to be taken more seriously. I suggested an alternative event to the business group: Bring in a high-flying
salary negotiator to teach Estonian women how to approach their
bosses and demand more money. After all, the most-cited reason for women being
paid less is the fact that they don’t ask for it. But the idea didn’t get much traction.
Passing through Viru Keskus the other day, I came upon a photo (below) of
Estonian state prosecutor Kati Reitsak. It was part of an exhibition of the
best press photos of 2015. The caption noted that despite Reitsak’s pleasant
appearance, she was actually qualified for her job. In Canada, Justin Trudeau
himself would lead the charge to tear down that poster. But in Estonia? Not
so much.
A friend puts it this way: “I've given up on the argument
for equal pay for women in the workplace in Estonia, as I find the people I end up
arguing with are mostly women. I think their ideal workplace has women doing
all the work except IT support, and a dumb, handsome male boss taking credit
for their work, plus flirting with them. Perhaps it's a part of Estonian
femininity that they insist on having a guy to defer to even if he's incompetent?"
Perhaps.
Loe seda sama eesti keeles Feministeeriumis.
Tantra Man. Got yours?
