Still a long way to go

So it has been confirmed! The Maltese suffer from severe bouts of nostalgia when asked about the role of women and the family in today's world. A Euro barometer survey revealed that we believe that a woman's main job is to stay at home. Women should give absolute priority to child rearing over their careers and are expected to carry out most domestic duties. Furthermore the Maltese were extraordinarily sanguine as regards gender specific roles such as who should be the principal breadwinner and how much work men and women are expected to perform.

Beyond the gender equality debate, it is abundantly clear that as Maltese the image of women as "domestic goddesses" is still an idyllic although powerfully appealing picture. As the commemorative events come to an end and the noise fades after International Women's Day, it is conspicuously obvious that much more has to be done to understand and possibly accept the changing role of women in our society. Moreover, one of the mainstays of gender equality, that of altering the division of labour within the family, remains at best elusive. Beyond the slogans and attractive words it demonstrates how tricky it will be trying to turn aspirations into reality.

Throughout the events surrounding the recent Women's Day, a number of challenging issues were raised. The family, female employment, parental leave, gender discrimination, domestic violence and electoral quotas were among the subjects highlighted. But what seems to shadow the whole debate seems our inability to resolve what should be the effective role of women in our times.

The feeling remains ambivalent. While we seem to do our best to promote women in so many fields such as education and work, deep down inside we still struggle to effectively understand the real roles women are expected to fulfil. It remains to be seen if these are simple sociological and cultural adjustments or deep seated attitudes and beliefs that appear to persist across time.

From a purely economic aspect it is clear that female participation in the workplace has increased and needs to be further expanded. Successive government administrations have pumped millions into our education system so that this could be achieved. I believe that this has been a runaway success and great strides forward have been made. Figures show a majority of females in tertiary education and many skills have by and large today become gender neutral. At face value there seems to be very little apparent gender discrimination at least up to certain grades of career advancement. In Malta, women have been able to dent, albeit not break, quite effectively the glass ceiling that shields them from progression.

The anxiety seems to appear when women decide to become mothers. The reasons are complex and manifold. Some point to a lack of support systems while others to feeble legislation. The point is that it appears as if motherhood puts upon women the onus to decide. She must either be a mother or an employee. The two don't seem to go well together. If you think otherwise just look at the statistics regarding female employment. Beyond the average age of 35 the number of female workers simply falls off the cliff. Another poignant statistic is the average age of mothers of first-born children. At 25.8 years, it is one of the highest in the European Union. I suspect this has very much to do with the need to take care of the family and all the associated responsibilities.

The shift in gender roles in the workplace and in the family remain at the very best challenging. As economic forces drive the feminisation of labour, women remain unable or reluctant to participate fully in these growing opportunities. Once again it is difficult to pinpoint the actual reasons behind all this.

Of course the "working mother" vs "stay at home" ones would be an unfair argument. Some may argue that most women work out of financial necessity or to fulfil their need to have a rewarding career. This may be disrespectful towards mothers who decide to abandon their careers to look after their families full time.

As a working mother myself I have been on the emotional rollercoaster of guilt when trying to balance my family life with my work life. Undoubtedly a strong family support system helped tremendously during the "baby years". Children grow up, move on and require less "hands on" attention and it is only then that women start regretting lost opportunities. As a working mother to two happy, well-adjusted children, I know that achieving this all important balance between work and family is possible.

Ultimately it remains a woman's personal choice to decide but this freedom of choice should not be hampered by pre-conceived ideas of set gender roles. Even domestic goddesses appreciate division of labour in the household and this ability to communicate and share traditionally female roles shows maturity from males and goes a long way towards establishing role models for strong, loving, longer lasting families.

info@carolinegalea.com