The image above has
been published in Good Housekeeping, Woman & Home, Marie Claire,
OK!, Woman's Weekly, Cosmopolitan and many other periodicals, and
it's been causing quite a stir! It's part of the pressure group
Extreme Equality's latest campaign and a retort to the pro-separatist
stance on what has been dubbed the genderquake. The
pressure group's founder and former starlet Charlotte Chapel has
repeatedly claimed that the pro-separatist movement are 'relics
from the stone age' and 'a
bunch of sad little misogynists who need to wake up'.
Chapel claims that the latest Extreme Equality campaign highlights
the positives and negatives of the genderquake in a simple and
succinct manner. “It's designed to promote the debate as
much as it's designed to change opinion.”
she states. “It's really no big deal when a guy is told
to wear a specific uniform, paint his face or shave his legs... it
wasn't a problem when the girls had to do it and its not a problem
now... and this poster highlights that.”
The image first
appeared in The Mirror newspaper in August (but didn't include the
'pros & cons') to illustrate the 'plight' faced by many 'menial
males' in recent years, and depicts Ryan Harrison; a 17 year old
waiter from Stoke Newington. Having left school with few
qualifications and unable to enter further education, Ryan, like many
under-qualified youths, has no choice but to take whatever job he can
get or face the Compulsory Work Programme. His employer makes no
concessions for male staff which means Ryan is subject to the same
dress code as his female colleagues... and he's certainly not alone.
It is estimated that some 16,000 males are required to wear feminine
workwear in England and Wales alone.
The Mirror's article, which featured Ryan's story,
was a plea for business owners and managers to put an end to the
alleged forced feminisation of male members of staff who fill menial
positions such as cleaning, care
work, nursing and table service. Harrison and the Mirror Group have
both condemned the use of the image as they feel that it has been
taken completely out of context. “The image illustrates
the misery felt by many males who are forced to wear women's clothing
in the workplace. It's both dehumanising and humiliating. Taking it
out of context like this is not helping young males such as Ryan, who
simply want to be heard.” A
spokesman from Mirror Group stated.
Charlotte Chapel disagrees. "There's nothing dehumanising about appropriate workwear, and if some men feel humiliated by it, then they've just got to get over themselves."
Charlotte Chapel disagrees. "There's nothing dehumanising about appropriate workwear, and if some men feel humiliated by it, then they've just got to get over themselves."
A21 near Sevenoaks, Kent |
Since
the publishing rights for image are owned by a third party, neither
Harrison nor the Mirror Group have control over who the usage rights
are sold to. However Harrison's lawyers have secured an injunction to
block Extreme Equality's use of his likeness from being used on
billboards, buses and other large format advertisements in public
places, but the injunction only applies to Greater London. The image
is currently being used in large format advertising in other parts of
the country.
Whilst
many feel that forcing male members of staff to wear feminine attire
should be legislated against, Chapel's Extreme Equality campaign
takes the stance that all employers are well within their rights to
impose a dress code on their staff regardless of gender, and cites
the 9th Amendment to
the Equality in the Workplace Act
as legal justification for employers imposing a single uniform on all
members of staff. Speaking about the use of Ryan Harrison's image as
part of this latest campaign, Charlotte Chapel said, “I
think it's great picture and Ryan should be proud of himself. He
clearly takes pride in his appearance, although he really should sit
with his knees together.”
Having
worked as a waiter for little over a year, Ryan Harrison has admitted
to 'accepting' his feminine uniform, yet continues to maintain that
it's also humiliating. Ryan, who declined to comment for this
article, was quoted in The Mirror stating, “I work hard
and try my best to live up to the standards expected of both my
employer and customers, but with short hours and low pay, the cost of
cosmetics takes a sizeable bite out of my already modest income.”
Ryan also stated that he'd rather stick with his current job than be
placed on the Compulsory Work Programme. “Who wants to
chisel chewing gum off the pavement or clear knotweed for ten hours a
day, six days a week for no money?”
The Labour government's
controversial introduction of the Compulsory Work Programme (CWP),
'forced' thousands of Britain's unemployed youth (aged 16-25) to fill
the thousands of menial job vacancies, many of which are part time
and underpaid. Those who fail to find paid employment are put on the
CWP which has been criticised for its long working hours and minimal
wages. In defence of the CWP, Prime Minister Hillary Harperson has
said “Those who can't find work for themselves have been given
work. They may not be given the best or most desirable jobs, but it's
a job. If they don't like it, they are more than welcome to find
themselves a better job.” Regarding the alleged forced
feminisation of male workers, Hillary Harperson said, “The last
thing the people want is further legislation of trivial matters such
as workwear regulations. The current system is fair, it's equal,
it's not broken, so why fix it?”
Timothy Travers, owner
of Town & City Cleaners Ltd, one of London's largest cleaning
agencies claims that his male members of staff are not forcibly
feminised, but are merely wearing a uniform that is appropriate for
the task at hand. Travers' stance on the subject reflects Chapel's.
“A domestic dress and apron, along with sensible footwear was
entirely appropriate when women were expected to do the cleaning. Now
that most women are working in professional roles, there's more
opportunities for males to undertake cleaning duties, and I'm
certainly not alone in thinking that the traditional style of
domestic workwear is still entirely appropriate.” Travers' went
on to say that they employ more male cleaners today than at any other
time in the companies 36 year history, and claimed that most of his
staff have no issues regarding their attire, although he did decline
our request to interview some of his male members of staff.
It's not just the
cleaning and table service sector that takes this stance either as
many residential care homes and some private care providers also
require both male and female staff to wear traditional nursing
garments. And whilst objection is high amongst the largely male
workforce, they have failed to get union support for their proposed
changes to the current workwear laws and guidelines. Valerie
Beeching, president of the National Union of Nurses and Care Workers
(NUNC) said, “We've spent many years fighting for real and
tangible equality in the workplace. We've had one rule for him and another rule for her before and it was terrible... one rule for all is
best all round and long may it stay that way.”
With both the unions
and government in agreement, it's unlikely that anything is going to
change any time soon. Many seem to have forgotten that before the
genderquake, our 'menial males' were once our disenfranchised youth.
Before the CWP was introduced they were the burden of the welfare
state. Now they all have jobs and that's no bad thing. Britain's
economy is growing substantially for the first time since the 2009
recession and unemployment in England & Wales is at its lowest
since Thatcher's reign over three decades ago. It wasn't so long ago
that women were expected to look and dress a certain way in order to
undertake the most menial of tasks. They worked longer hours and were
paid far less than today's 'menial males'. They fought for decades
for the equal pay that today's menial workers such as Ryan Harrison
benefit from. It may not be much, but it's exactly the same as his
female colleagues earn. The 'menial males' of Britain should be more
worried about trying to make ends meet on such a low wage rather than
worry about whether or not the uniform their employer provides meets
with their approval.
Walter Haughton, The
Barking Bugle
plz write more stories
ReplyDeleteI totally suport CWP! Putting all these underqualified males to good use has brought us one of Europe’s lowest unemployement rate! and they want to complain!?
ReplyDeleteThis is fiction, is it not?
ReplyDeleteIt's more than fiction... it's fictitious fiction!
Delete