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Day of reckoning

9/3/2018

5 Comments

 
Picture‘Baroness’ Raymonde de Laroche: the first woman to earn a pilot’s licence, in 1910
On International Women's Day, Pamela Rothfield looks forward to the day when no one will be surprised to see a woman driving a petrol tanker.

IT’S hard to believe this celebration of International Woman’s Day has been happening around the world for over a century. 
 
While there are many conflicting accounts as to its beginnings, from what I can glean, it appears that it was at the International Women’s Conference, taking place in New York, in February 1910 that the date of March 8 was suggested. Some reports say that this date was selected in recognition of a protest staged some 60 years earlier in New York City by women garment workers against inhumane working conditions and low wages.
 
On the other side of the Atlantic, something else took place on March 8, 1910, which has no conflicting accounts; “Baroness” Raymonde de Laroche of Paris became the first female to be granted a pilot’s licence. While “Baroness” conjures up a rather bourgeois image, with all the trappings of a regal status, the truth was that “Baroness” Raymonde was actually Elise Raymonde Deroche, daughter of a plumber. Elise had seen Wilbur Wright’s 1908 flying demonstration in Paris, and at the age of 23 became determined that she would fly. Her first flight covered only 300 metres, but what an achievement. Little did she know how significant that date would be to future generations.
 
I am reminded of a Gandhi quote: “Strength does not come from physical capacity – it comes from an indomitable will”. Seven years later, in 1917 Soviet Russia, women displayed this indomitable will, and gained suffrage. Subsequently, March 8 became a day of national holiday there.
 
So what is this day all about?  Yes – of course it celebrates and acknowledges the many amazing achievements, strength and contribution of women.
 
But this day is more than a celebration – it commemorates and honours the women who have gone before us and paved the way; women who have struggled and sacrificed so much to secure women’s rights and contributed to build more equitable societies.
 
While the true essence of the day is rooted in the recognition of the rights and power of women, the day also reminds us that we all must ensure that the future is bright, equal, safe and rewarding for the generation of young women who follow.
 
I hope I never see International Women’s Day dissolved into something trivial, acknowledged by greeting cards, and patronising gifts – denying women a stature that they unquestionably deserve.
 
While we have not yet reached the parity for which we yearn, we are heading in the right direction – even in my life, the changes have been substantial, and this day, March 8, embodies the passion, the power and the will, of so many throughout the last century.
 
Just yesterday, I was surprised to hear on Jon Faine’s ABC radio show a segment on a female petrol tanker driver, Lana Perry. I was surprised on two counts: Jon expressed his surprise on pulling up to a service station to see a woman driving a petrol tanker. “A woman!”, he exclaimed, “I have never seen a woman drive a petrol tanker before.” I was surprised that he was surprised! My next surprise was that Lana was the only woman petrol tanker driver in Australia. 
 
Another first that I heard about yesterday was the appointment of Kerri Judd, QC, as the first female Director of Public Prosecutions in Victoria. Really? It took us until 2018 for this “achievement”.
 
I guess we still have a way to go until there are no more surprises and we are well and truly judged as equal.
 
Pamela Rothfield is Mayor of Bass Coast. This is an edited version of her address to an International Women’s Day breakfast at Cape Kitchen on Thursday.
5 Comments
Joseph Heller
9/3/2018 06:24:07 pm

Hold your surprise about the "only female tanker driver". I work alongside 2 others in Melbourne.
Long time listener to the ABC, l'm picking more and more mistakes in their broadcast information.
Same with the previous days conversation hour ,talking to a representative of Engineers Australia (EA) about shortages of Engineers. EA makes thousands of dollars vetting overseas Engineers, there's no shortage of graduate Engineers in Australia. EA is all about making big wages for it's staff.

Reply
Michael Whelan
9/3/2018 06:28:07 pm

I had the pleasure of hearing Pam deliver this speech and as well hear Joanne Hakanson who is doing amazing work at the Olivia Newton John Cancer Wellness Centre. The room was full of sensational Bass Coast women all doing great things right here in Bass Coast.
Bass Coast does pretty well in gender terms with our Mayors but the current council representation is an appalling 2 women to 7 men. I look forward to making way for a wonderful woman to take over the reins from me here in Island Ward - give it some thought.

Reply
Ian Samuel
10/3/2018 12:03:05 pm

Our society is advancing albeit slowly, to recognise that gender is irrelevant in the pursuit of excellence.
The task is to acknowledge and reward abilty and performance regardless of gender in all facets of our society.

Reply
Catherine Watson
10/3/2018 04:41:18 pm

I can remember the head of the ABC or the NZBC some 30 or so years ago explaining that women couldn’t be newsreaders because their voices were too high to convey the gravitas of news. Even worse, I thought he (of course he was a he) had a point. Obviously no one told Lee Lin Chin!

Reply
Cr Geoff Ellis
12/3/2018 08:34:11 am

The 'U.N. Women' website includes a page of facts and figures relating to global leadership and political participation which includes this paragraph:

'Women’s representation in local governments can make a difference. Research on panchayats (local councils) in India discovered that the number of drinking water projects in areas with women-led councils was 62 per cent higher than in those with men-led councils. In Norway, a direct causal relationship between the presence of women in municipal councils and childcare coverage was found.

This is the link to the whole shebang -

http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures:

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