Friday, 10 June 2016

Pak Defence Minister faces flak for sexist remarks When US Nave plans to Drop “man”



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.
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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#
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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.


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