Dear Editor,
I was glancing through the June 30 issue of the Daily Observer when I saw this horrific title 'Women sink ships' written by Vernon Brooks. I thought: Are women the last marginalised group in the world to get any respect? When are men going to stop scapegoating us when they mess up?
If you want to play sexist blame games, best you check your facts first, Sir Brooks.
"Female managers... one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred...and the count continues," according to you. Perhaps, but where are the men? Hundreds of female managers, but managers usually report to somebody. Managers are the ones who implement the decisions of boards of directors and CEOs. It is the board of directors and CEOs who are the captains of the ships. Shouldn't they bear most of the responsibility when a ship sinks?
So back to my question, where are the men? In case you did not notice, the majority of Jamaican boards are male-dominated. So let's count again. This time we are counting the directors.
A sampling of some board memberships revealed that board members in Jamaica number four men out of four directors, 11 men out of 11 directors, three men out of four directors, seven men out of seven directors, 10 men out of 11 directors, five men out of five directors, "and the count continues". If you had bothered to do your homework you would have known this. Just check the annual reports of publicly listed companies in Jamaica. While you are at it, please check the Government's records for its lists of the public sector boards also. As you will see, men far outnumber women in top-level decision-making on both fronts.
But lest you think that I am totally against your message, let me commend you for at least acknowledging that "we cannot do without females in the line-up". You will get some support on that point from one well-respected, top-level operative in the Jamaican business arena. I sat in one of his meetings a few months ago and heard him jokingly declare that he likes having women work for him because he gets to take the credit for the work they do. It was an offensive joke for sure, but it underscores your point that we cannot do without women. Go figure that one, Vernon Brooks. It goes both ways, doesn't it?
If you want to lay blame for sinking ships, then blame the captains -- the decision makers -- first; not just the ones who labour to carry out the decisions. Captains bear the lion's share of the responsibility, if not all of it, when a ship sinks.
Dawn Marie Roper
Dmarier70@yahoo.com
Blame the captains, Brooks
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I was glancing through the June 30 issue of the Daily Observer when I saw this horrific title 'Women sink ships' written by Vernon Brooks. I thought: Are women the last marginalised group in the world to get any respect? When are men going to stop scapegoating us when they mess up?
If you want to play sexist blame games, best you check your facts first, Sir Brooks.
"Female managers... one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred...and the count continues," according to you. Perhaps, but where are the men? Hundreds of female managers, but managers usually report to somebody. Managers are the ones who implement the decisions of boards of directors and CEOs. It is the board of directors and CEOs who are the captains of the ships. Shouldn't they bear most of the responsibility when a ship sinks?
So back to my question, where are the men? In case you did not notice, the majority of Jamaican boards are male-dominated. So let's count again. This time we are counting the directors.
A sampling of some board memberships revealed that board members in Jamaica number four men out of four directors, 11 men out of 11 directors, three men out of four directors, seven men out of seven directors, 10 men out of 11 directors, five men out of five directors, "and the count continues". If you had bothered to do your homework you would have known this. Just check the annual reports of publicly listed companies in Jamaica. While you are at it, please check the Government's records for its lists of the public sector boards also. As you will see, men far outnumber women in top-level decision-making on both fronts.
But lest you think that I am totally against your message, let me commend you for at least acknowledging that "we cannot do without females in the line-up". You will get some support on that point from one well-respected, top-level operative in the Jamaican business arena. I sat in one of his meetings a few months ago and heard him jokingly declare that he likes having women work for him because he gets to take the credit for the work they do. It was an offensive joke for sure, but it underscores your point that we cannot do without women. Go figure that one, Vernon Brooks. It goes both ways, doesn't it?
If you want to lay blame for sinking ships, then blame the captains -- the decision makers -- first; not just the ones who labour to carry out the decisions. Captains bear the lion's share of the responsibility, if not all of it, when a ship sinks.
Dawn Marie Roper
Dmarier70@yahoo.com
Blame the captains, Brooks
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