Are Women Handicapped In Business?

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 13241, 17 January 1941, Page 7

Are Women Handicapped In Business?

Mr Marian Mays Martin There is hardly a woman who, at I at one time or another, has not wished she were a man. I’ve often wondered why, especially now when women have most of the privileges men enjoy, yet can successfully dodge so many of their responsibilities. Undoubtedly being a woman was once a handicap if one wanted to enter into competition with men, but it’s a question whether it is a handicap any longer. This question is often debated on lecture platforms, on the air and in private circles.A recent broadcast was given over to a discussion of “Do Women Have Equal Opportunities in Business With Men?” Four representative women sought to answer it. There were probably thousands of listeners who were itching to give their personal experiences ©and views on this intensely interesting subject. I am one who has a slight advantage over many, since I can rush right into print with my views. Old Prejudice Clone To begin with, I know a vast number of business and professional women. I think it is greatly to their credit that practically none of them whines about any unfair competition or discrimination. The ideal situation is for a woman to build a niche for herself in wfiich a man could not possibly fit. That eliminates competition with men. When the average woman starts out to carve her career, I doubt very much if she is greatly concerned by the notion that the world is

against her because she is a woman, tion, gainful or otherwise, and -ir surtime have existed against women going to business is forgotten. One expects women to have some occupamen decide they don’t want the job prised when she has not. , Women still don’t get men’s salaries, which some consider eery unfair, but on- the other hand they usually don’t carry men’s responsibilities. A woman may be the sole support of her husband, but she seldom has a big family on her hands, plus a few indigent relatives. Also, it’s often a girl’s own fault because she does not receive as big a salary as a man holding a comparable position. And there’s always the chance that she may not deserve it. Firms that employ women always face the uncertainty of having them walk out because of some demand on their private lines. After being trained for a job worth having, woThe young woman about to enas much as they want some man who has a job big enough to take care oi two, or a possible half dozen.

one is trying to get the better of the in which they excel, and are certainly not discriminated against in these occupations.