MORE WOMEN WANTED IN POLICY-MAKING

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33777, 25 February 1975, Page 6

MORE WOMEN WANTED IN POLICY-MAKING

More women setting development plans, more women in top management and more in policy-making posts — these are some of the aims put forward by Miss Ria Mcßride in her International Night message to the New Zealand Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs.

Miss Mcßride, who is national president of the federation, said that one of the organisation’s chief reasons for existing was to work for equal opportunities and status for women in the economic, civil and political life in all countries.

International Night, with a candle-lighting ceremony, will, be observed by the Christchurch Federated Business and Professional Women’s Club this evening with guests from many other organisations. RESPONSIBILITY “Women in our society ! enjoy most of the privileges | of citizenship, and the in- ' equalities that remain are now mainly in the accepted or traditional role that women should play,’’ she \ said. “It is much more ; difficult to change deeply-en-[trenched attitudes than the daws of the country. Equal' pay on our Statute Book does not mean all working women thereby enjoy equal pay. For one thing, equal pay has to be earned and it is earned only when we are prepared to accept full responsibility at work.” In so doing, women may have to sacrifice some of the privileges that had been granted to them because they were women, she added. Some women may be reluctant to do so even though these so-called “protective provisions” were a form of discrimination. “Our international theme for this year asks us to examine the needs of and participation by women in setting development plans,” I she said. “This means working towards having more women in top management and in the policy-making posts of both the public and private sectors of our community.” 1 The theme also empha-

sised the international feder-. ation’s main study topic, “Looking Towards the Twen-ty-First Century.” “As today’s women, we! should realise that it is this i year’s babies who will be, the responsible young adults j of the year 2000. We must! always have regard to our; youth in working towards'; our ultimate aim of fulli equality in the economic, \ civil and , political ■ life; of New Zealand,” she said. NEW PERSPECTIVE New methods of communication — television in par-; ticular — had given a hew perspective on the people of other countries as well as the men and women of New Zealand. “These are leading us,, particularly our youth, to question long-accepted beliefs and traditions, for what' is accepted as traditional for women in one society is .found to be traditional for imen in another,” she said. ,

The opportunity for comparison was good, for there was no doubt that many of the attitudes that prevented women’s fuller participation in New Zealand’s economic and political life were based on traditions and myths.

“It is up to us, as thinking women in business and professional women’s clubs throughout New Zealand, to examine these objectively this International Women’s Year of 1975. But we must go much further than this. Having examined the field carefully, having decided where changes are needed and where stereotypes exist, having sorted out the myths from the true facts, let us work vigorously in our clubs and elsewhere to bring about the needed changes,” Miss Mcßride said. Miss Mcßride is a member of the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women and a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate matters relating to the rights of women.