Paula Bennett: Female tradie told to wear bigger shirt to cover breasts

123 rf

OPINION

This week we had International Women’s Day. I’m not someone who needs a day but I found myself celebrating and reflecting on Wednesday more than I have previously.

I celebrate my daughter and the women like her, working in a full-on full-time job and raising a family and holding their own. I despair about the pressure on them as they try to do it all. They are told (and they know) they can’t have it all, something has to give and so often it is time for themselves and their health.

I celebrate that sexism is called out more now than it ever was. It is still around of course, but women and men come together to condemn and call it out. The sexism is now more often in hushed tones and nuances but can still be blatant. I know a young women who was an apprentice in a male-dominated trade and was on site with probably close to a hundred men and a handful of women. They wore work shirts provided by the company. She was advised that she should wear a bigger shirt as her breasts were distracting for the men and could be a health and safety issue. Absolutely unacceptable, she was embarrassed but then with my help got angry and she addressed it. We won’t go into how ridiculous it is to treat the men on site like this, believing they have so little control they might trip over looking at breasts covered by a T-shirt.

I celebrate that she did stick up for herself and then despair that she had to.

I celebrate New Zealand and that half of our Parliamentarians are women, and that we changed laws so we have more say over our own bodies. Then despair at what is happening in some states in America where abortion is now illegal and they are yet to have a woman president. It seems incomprehensible that in these modern times we are taking such backward steps.

I celebrate that I could make decisions about my own body and have weight loss surgery and go public about it. I despair that even quite recently when a few haters were having a pile-on on social media they had to fat-shame me. Out of all the mean things they said, I despair that I felt fat-shamed.

I celebrate that women now reach the top in many professions in higher numbers but then despair that there is still a gender pay gap in many jobs.

I celebrate that the dancers at Calendar Girls banded together to demand better working conditions after decades of employment exploitation. Then despair that instead of negotiating with them, they were sacked and now have to march on Parliament to have their voices heard.

I celebrate Georgina Beyer and the significant trailblazing woman that she was. Fearless and fierce I had a bit to do with her in Parliament. Then despair that she had to fight for much of her life for acceptance and know many trans that have to keep fighting.

I celebrate our men, our husbands, dads, brothers, sons, colleagues and friends who back their wāhine and lift us up in so many ways. Love you guys.

Paula Bennett is a former Deputy Prime Minister and National Party politician who now works at Bayleys Real Estate as national director-customer engagement.