Pak Defence Minister faces flak for
sexist remarks
When US Nave plans to Drop “man”
Read on the two attitudes
With more women in combat, US drops
`man' from job titles
Newport (US): AP
Makes Them Inclusive, Gender-Neutral
Engineman? Yeoman? Not so fast. Now that women will be
allowed to serve in all combat jobs, the US navy and Marine Corps are dropping
“man“ from some of their job titles to make them inclusive and gender-neutral.
Much like the term “fireman“ has evolved to
“firefighter“ and “policeman“ to “police officer,“ an engineman could be called
an engine technician and a yeoman could be called an administrative specialist.
“This is one more step in how our force has changed,“
secretary of the navy Ray Mabus said. “Our force has evolved, our force is
different. And I believe it's stronger and better.“
Some army and air force titles end in “man,“ too, but
the services aren't considering changing them. The names are historically
significant, and the focus now is on bringing women into the jobs rather than
on what to call them, both services said.
Defence secretary Ashton Carter ordered the military
in December to open all military jobs to women, including the Marine Corps and
speci al operations forces like navy SEALs and army Green Berets.
During a visit to Newport, Rhode Island, Carter was
asked by whether job titles that end in “man“ should change throughout the
military . Carter spoke about the benefits of opening jobs to women to make
“full use of the wonderful talents of half of the population of the country .“
“Signifying that in all appropriate ways is, I think,
exactly that, very appropriate and needed,“ he said.
Carter said that he didn't offhand have a good
alternative for titles that were stripped of “man“.
Mabus called in January for a re view of navy and
Marine titles. There are nearly two dozen in the navy that end in “man“ and
roughly a dozen in the Marines. Mabus said he wants titles that more accurately
convey who is doing the job and what the job is.
“In the overall scheme, it's a small thing, but I
think it's important because it's what sailors and Marines call each other, and
words do matter,“ he said. Mabus, who is reviewing the services'
recommendations now, said the navy and Marines will announce changes this
summer.
Some iconic titles will stay the same, and others will
change to make the jobs easier to understand outside of the military, he added.
For example, few civilians know what a hospital
corpsman does, Mabus said. A corpsman could be called a medic or an emergency
medical technician, much like “messman“ was previously changed to culinary
specialist, he added.
--
Pak defence minister calls woman
oppn leader tractor trolley in House, apologises
Omer Farooq Khan
|
Islamabad: TNN
|
Pakistan's defence minister on Thursday apologised
for his sexist remarks on the floor of the House referring to the opposition
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party's woman chief whip a “tractor trolley“, and
asking her to “transform her masculine voice into a feminine one“.
A day earlier, defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif
had used grossly derogatory language against PTI's Shireen Mazari, known for
her hard-hitting criticism of government policies.
“Someone make this tractor trolley shut up!“ Asif
said.As if that wasn't enough, he added, “It will be better if you first
transform your masculine voice into a more feminine one.“ Soon, several MPs
from government benches were heard shouting: “Sit down aunty!“ Rather than
challenging the minister's indecent remarks, the speaker blamed Mazari, telling
her off for not sitting down and remaining si lent when told. Some TV channels
reported that Mazari appeared on the verge of tears.
“I told Khawaja Asif that if he had any `sharm-o-haya'
he would know how to deal with women but he was `besharm and behaya'. Luckily ,
my voice louder than his,“ Mazari tweeted. People from across the country
condemned Khwaja's behaviour, compelling him to tender a half-hearted apology
which was rejected by Mazari besides the opposition.
Responding to Asif 's outburst, PTI spokesman Naeemul
Haq said, “Khwaja Asif should be hung upside down for his vulgarity and
misbehaviour, and should be beaten with a shoe 25 times in the morning and 25
times in the evening.“ Nafeesa Shah, PPP MNA, said sexism is unacceptable. “If
you continuously insult a colleague on her appearance, voice or gender, it's an
insult of the entire assembly .As women, we felt insulted,“ Shah said, and
reminded the Speaker of an incident in the British Parliament “when a lawmaker
called David Cameron `dodgy Dave'.“
“The speaker ordered him to retract his statement and
apologise. When he refused, he was thrown out of the house.We expect you, as
speaker, to take similar action in this regard -in fact, to go one step ahead,“
she said.
http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/index.aspx?eid=31814&dt=20160610#
--
Real Apology demanded
It doesn't matter that I am not an Insaafian — one
doesn't have to be a PTI supporter to call out the appalling attitude towards
women in our National Assembly. What does matter, however, is which side of
this debate you and I stand on.
Defense
Minister, Mr. Khawaja Asif, yesterday insultedPakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaaf MNA Shireen Mazari. And he did so in a manner horridly
inappropriate for a minister clothed in enormous respect and entrusted with the
responsibility to maintain composure through provocation that his position
naturally comes with.
Using
grossly sexist language against the PTI parliamentarian, Asif snapped: “Someone
make this tractor trolley shut up!”. According to to an eyewitness, he further insulted Mazari for "talking like a
man", and urged her to “make her voice more feminine”
Told Kh Asif if he had
any "sharm or haya" he wld know how to deal with women but he was
besharam & behaya! Luckily my voice louder than his.
Displaying
neither an ounce of contrition in his posture, nor a modicum of regret in his
tone, the smirking minister unequivocally stated that he would not apologise for his egregious
remarks, pompously challenging the opposition to “do whatever they want”.
It’s
worth noting that the PTI members were, in fact, interrupting Mr. Asif’s
speech. There is much to be said about their lack of decorum as well.Tragically,
instead of continuing to cruise along the high road, Mr. Asif made the decision
to take an exit into a mud-path that the nation's representatives are not
expected to travel. And he did so amidst the roaring applause of his fellow
parliamentarians, with a glaring lack of awareness of their own respective
seats and statures.
Certain
members could be heard yelling, “Sit down, aunty!” at Ms. Mazari, limning a
culture of sexism in the house that is bigger than the casual insolence of one
minister.
Making
no effort at challenging this culture, NA speaker Ayaz Sadiq transferred the
blame to Mazari, and chided her for not sitting down and remaining silent when
told.
This
is not the first time Ms. Mazari, or any other woman parliamentarian for that
matter, has been subjected to sexist vitriol.
A
few years ago, Hassan Nasir infamously joked about Mazari being referred to as
‘bulbul’ by his friend, and suggested calling her “bull bull”
instead. Political caricatures and skits almost invariably lash out at Ms.
Mazari's appearance, rather than her political points of view.
The televised assembly of the nation’s elected dignitaries transformed
into a street theater where women must always be on guard for incoming ‘jugats’
about their voice, appearance, age, or body weight.
It’s
a place where the word “aunty” is laughingly lanced at a professional woman as
an insult, because it implies agedness, coupled with stereotypical female
naiveté.
It’s
a place where men carry an air of entitlement in being able to dictate to their
female peers what they ought to look like, talk like, and dress like, before
even considering to take them seriously.
Earlier
today, resting comfortably in a soundproof cocoon, fondly woven by his
(predominantly male) well-wishers, Mr. Asif issued an apology — which continues to blame Mazari
and other opposition members for his own outburst — to the NA speaker and not Mazari
herself.
This
'half apology' is hardly sufficient, as the point isn’t simply that the decorum
of the house was disrupted by a random outburst. There was a sexist, personal
attack launched at a female member of the assembly on the house floor itself.
This is about women parliamentarians having a right
to work among their male peers without being constantly chided for their
appearance, or belittled for their femininity. And in addressing a culture that
prevents this from happening again, a direct apology to Ms. Mazari would be a
vital stepping stone.
Apologists
may attempt to minimise the problem by portraying it as a case of bilateral,
aggression; where both Mazari and Asif misbehaved and debased each other. I
would encourage the disruptive PTI members to earnestly think about their
misdemeanors as well, but combating bigotry – in any form – must take
precedence.
Sexism
isn’t the same as nominal rudeness.
There
will be time to fling mud across the aisle at the political party you have,
perhaps reasonably, learned to distrust and despise.
But
for now, we must learn to hold our elected representatives to a higher standard
in terms of maintaining decorum in the national assembly. And, just as
importantly, being able to treat women with basic respect.
