Feminist News Round-up 11.03.12
A Right to Kill Newborns?
Late last week, Australian philosophers Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva argued in the British Medical Journal that killing a newborn is of no moral difference to aborting a foetus. This is justified on the basis that a newborn and a foetus have the same lack of a sense of their own life and aspiration. As long as the procedure is painless, they argue, what they call an ‘after birth abortion’ is morally fine. They say that this applies equally to babies who are born ill as well as healthy babies.
The journal has received a number of death threats since publishing the piece, which can be read here. Nonetheless, the editors continue to justify its publication on the grounds that it is a well-argued, thought-provoking (albeit slightly disturbing) piece. Meanwhile a post on Alas! points out that the article ignores the place of the woman in this – a foetus is part of the body of another, whereas a newborn baby, whilst not independent, is not dependent on any particular person. This may be an important moral distinction.
Women Claim Discrimination from Virgin Blue
This week, a Brisbane court heard allegations that Virgin Blue has been involved in gender discrimination. Two women,Kirsty Aitken and Leonie Vandeven, both in their early 30s, were made redundant from the company only weeks before they were due to return from maternity leave. Ms. Aitken alleges that her manager told her that her position was ‘no longer available, that I was a square peg they were trying to fit in a round hole’ and that she was terminated, without warning, seven months after a senior member of human resources expressed the belief that companies should be allowed to fire women upon news of their pregnancy. Lawyers for the case have said that Virgin Blue is guilty of breaching a number of sections in the Fair Work Act. Breaches carry a maximum penalty of a $33,000 fine.
Unfortunately, discrimination surrounding pregnancy in the work force is still quite common. This is to the point that the disclosure of pregnancy to one’s workplace (or potential workplace) is the stuff of advice articles.
The ‘Pink Ghettos’ of PR and HR
This week has seen the emergence of a new term which has been coined for female dominated workplaces, ‘Pink Ghettos’. A Sydney Recruitment Firm has used this term (a US import) to describe industries such as public relations and human resources where there are hardly any men. Apparently, this works to ‘stunt’ the advancement of women in the workforce. If they were to move to different industries, they would be more likely to advance to senior executive positions.Several bloggers argue that ‘pink ghettos’ are an example of women being relegated to particular industries or that this label as applied by the media works to undermine industriesthat women happen to be part of.
Women and Australian Political Policy
Women’s issues have been central to political policies under discussion over the last week. Campbell Newman, the man who would like to become Queensland’s Premier later this month, has promised 500 scholarships for women if he is successful in his campaign. Tony Abbott has been heralding his own paid parental leave policy which would give generous amounts of money to new mothers in highly salaried positions (and less generous amounts to low income women) and promised to give protection visas to at least 1000 at-risk refugee women and their dependents every year. Federal Minister for Women, Julie Collins, has publicly said that more women should be involved in overseas peace-keeping efforts.
International Women’s Day
Thursday of this week (the 8th of March) was International Women’s Day. Many events have been held throughout the world in celebration.
(Image source: 1.)
