We know that a good deal of positive discrimination for women takes place in recruitment and promotion terms, although it’s illegal in the UK. Both men and women tend to favour women in employment terms. It’s one of the key reasons behind male unemployment being markedly higher than female unemployment. We know unemployment is more likely to be a cause of depression for men than for women. Women can more reliably expect to be supported financially by a partner over long periods of unemployment. Unemployment-induced depression is a recognised contributor to the differential between male and female suicide rates. In the UK men are 3.5 times more likely than women to commit suicide.
Gender preferencing in employment is clearly an important phenomenon, albeit rarely reported by the media. So I was pleased today to be alerted by the cartoonist Tim Watts to his designs for MAGPIE: Men against gender preference in employment. It’s available as a logo on T-shirts etc., but let’s hope someone launches a proper campaign one day, and we start to see lawsuits against employers responsible for gender preferencing.
The site from which you can buy the T-shirts, mugs etc.:
http://www.cafepress.co.uk/magpie07
