Comments for MyVoice

Comment on The cost of sex by Alex Borg

Alex Borg — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:56:22 +0000

Prosit, excellent article. Subscribe to every word.

Comment on The cost of sex by Robert Callus

Robert Callus — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:08:02 +0000

Very good article.

How the clients find them but not the police has always baffled me.

To be fair the police have the burden of proof that the women were actually forced. Possibly not even the client knows the women are there against their will.

On the other hand, in other crimes they manage to convict people on a confession or a statement of somebody else, is it possible they don’t find evidence against these criminals?

In my opinion this problem is not being taken seriously since there is no public outrage (sometimes we even criminalize the victims) and no votes to be lost or gained, there is no political will.

Comment on It’s Women’s Day! Needlework, anyone? by NewAloysian

NewAloysian — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:28:13 +0000

@OldAloysian – You quote Caroline: ‘In the EU, Malta has the lowest number of women in decision-making positions’ and then ask “What does THAT really mean?”

It means; IN-THE-EUROPEAN-UNION-(are you still with me?)- LOWEST-NUMBER-OF-WOMEN-IN-DECISION-MAKING-POSITIONS – (getting it?) – ARE-IN-MALTA (read again if you still couldn’t understand it).

Whether “every Jane, Anne and Mary on every company board should be placed just because they’re women?” is your assertion NOT Caroline’s.

As for “believing in herself and working hard for her rights” clearly Caroline is on the right track. So maybe you should thank her for working hard to draw people’s attention to discrimination.

Comment on It’s Women’s Day! Needlework, anyone? by Nicolette Falzon

Nicolette Falzon — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:45:11 +0000

OldAloysian – It seems like you still managed to skydive in the end despite the obstacles you faced. Good for you! Well done! … But are you implying that if you hadn’t managed to get there no matter how hard you worked and how long you waited, you would have been happy to accept the situation and ‘be yourself’ with all the limitations imposed upon you and shut up? What if it had been something more essential in your life than ‘skydiving’?

Comment on It’s Women’s Day! Needlework, anyone? by carolinemuscat

carolinemuscat — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:30:47 +0000

OldAloysian, you seem to be very happy with the present situation, where the overwhelming majority of people who face discrimination at the workplace are women. You can stick to your position. I will stick to mine – and will do what I can to make sure that the situation is addressed. I will continue to expose the injustice resulting from thinking such as yours. And if you want to continue being part of this discussion, have the decency to say who you are. No woman replying to you is hiding who she is…

Comment on It’s Women’s Day! Needlework, anyone? by OldAloysian

OldAloysian — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:15:41 +0000

1. Even if there were equal number of male/female candidates most of the elected candidates would be male. It’s a mentality and upbringing issue. The electorate is what it is. It takes time for mentality to change.

2. I was referring to public companies. Private companies can decide to appoint whom they wish on the board.

3. Aren’t we supposed to bring equality between the sexes via quotas?

4. I beg to differ. Quotas positively discriminate and any form of discrimination contributes to unfairness and injustice.

Comment on It’s Women’s Day! Needlework, anyone? by OldAloysian

OldAloysian — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:05:18 +0000

Nicolette, I’m far from being an armchair critic. I have experienced unfairness and indifference throughout my life and I know what it means to be sidelined because some ‘pampalun’ who knows a minister or two gets to get the job and not me, no matter how incompetence the person is. You cannot change the world, but you can stop the world from changing you. That is what I’m saying. If you’re a woman and want to go skydiving, don’t let anyone stop you from doing it. Just do it. It’s much more fruitful in my opinion to do something for yourelf than spend years talking about the subject. You have to also accept the fact that it takes time for things to change. You can’t expect a thousands year old mentality to disappear overnight. Rome was not built in a day.

Comment on It’s Women’s Day! Needlework, anyone? by Nicolette Falzon

Nicolette Falzon — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:45:26 +0000

‘OldAloysian’ – It’s easy for an armchair critic to simply acknowledge that “Life is not fair. You have to do the best you can in a situation.” But it’s an illusion to believe that positive thinking and striving to fulfill your dreams is all there is to it. There are endless lists of self-help remedies and some of them do help but when you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place faith in self and positive thinking are simply not enough. It is naive to believe that everything is in your control. And that is precisly why some women ‘bicker’ about discrimination: because they do not accept that the people who do have control and who are responsible are not doing anything about social injustice.

Comment on It’s Women’s Day! Needlework, anyone? by Andrea

Andrea — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:26:50 +0000

Oldaloysian, given your nickname, i’m sure you’ve heard of the term ‘old boys’ networks’??

Comment on It’s Women’s Day! Needlework, anyone? by carolinemuscat

carolinemuscat — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:03:44 +0000

1. “Women in public positions are elected democratically” – yes, but there’s far more men to choose from so women’s chances of being elected are not equal to men’s.
2. “Women on company boards are elected by the company shareholders” – not necessarily.
3. Correction: Quotas do not impose a 50/50 representation
4. “Incompetent whales” as you put it, have far greater chance of getting decision-making positions than women… especially in a country that promotes ‘family values’ and the traditional role of women as mothers. As you also say, it’s not easy – that’s why quotas help competent women get to the top (nobody is going to get recruited to any position without the skills anyway).