I was having a perfectly lovely week until I read Ruth Eglash's article in the Jerusalem Post today: "Requests to fire pregnant women on the rise." It just jumped off the page at me.
As I have mentioned previously, I am not a militant feminist.I was going to say I am not a feminist at all, but I thought I better check the definition of that word before I spouted off at the mouth and as it turns out ... I am a feminist. But a rational feminist. Feminism, it seems is the belief that women should have equal political, social, sexual, intellectual and economic rights to men. On the other hand, I have no intention of burning my bras -- they cost too much.
The fact that men want pregnant women out of the workforce just reinforces once again how many men want it both ways. They collectively suffer from a mutant variation of the Madonna-Whore Syndrome. They want children and they want their wives to help support the family, but they don't want to be anywhere near pregnant woman in the workplace. Would you rather your wife down on her hands and knees scrubbing someone's floor? At least she wouldn't be in your office.
For you men out there who don't know this or don't remember it, let me remind you that pregnancy is not contagious. You can't catch it by sharing a cup or sitting on the same toilet seat.
Israel's Women's Labor Law, written 1954, says any employer who wants to dismiss a pregnant woman must seek permission from the Administration of Labor Law Enforcement. Interestingly enough, the article does not mention how many requests are approved. obviously a number that the government wants to keep under wraps.
And to add insult to injury, it's also okay to fire a woman undergoing fertility treatment -- with permission, of course.
Don't you think that just maybe that woman in fertility treatment is already going through enough hell without intervention from the Stupid Men's Collective? I am sure fertility treatment is tons of fun. Sure sounds like it. And I am sure the bills are fun too. That might even be why these women are working in the first place. Not all babies grow on trees.
What I found most interesting in the article was that employers are insisting that these women are being fired for under-performing. If my recollections serve me well, most women have to be 10 times as good as a man just to keep their jobs under normal circumstances. Now I must admit that I was a bit of a nutcase during my pregnancies. Many of my co-workers used to shudder in fear when I offered to drive when we went out for group lunches. I did drive my car over a few curbs and shoot a few red lights in those hormone-filled days. But overall, I felt like an Amazon (without the sparkly costume of course).
The truth is that pregnant women aren't taken very seriously by the real men in the workplace. How can they possibly be committed to their careers or jobs if they are off reproducing?
Fair question, with an equally fair answer. I say punish all the pregnant and potentially pregnant woman -- and with some luck, you can reduce the number of women having babies, so that when the time comes to replenish the workforce in 20 odd years, there won't be anyone to do the jobs. And there won't be anyone to protect the country. And there won't be anyone to walk your dog. And if you plan it well enough, Israel will move into negative population growth numbers while our Arab cousins just keep procreating at a ridiculous pace. Wow, what a plan!
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