By Jonathan Howcroft
I recently considered responding to a call for submissions for a collection of writing in support of the recent Reach Out and Triple J Man Week. The idea is to create an anthology of work that could be offered as a father’s day gift to provide honest and emotive accounts of being male in the twenty-first century. I wrote what I thought was an interesting, short article before realising I had completely missed the brief. I thought Onya readers might be interested though, so below is my attempt to write, in 500 words, a contribution to a book titled, ‘The Perfect Gift for a Man’:
There is no universal ‘best place in the world’ to live. Clearly all regions are somewhat desirable or millions of us would not be in transit searching for our own private Idaho. As a measure of agreed liveability amongst countries, the UN’s Human Development Index is about as useful a tool yet devised. Whilst not without fault, the index represents a highly-regarded measure of international standards of wellbeing, social development and prosperity. The Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden and Denmark are ranked towards the top of the 179-strong list in 2nd, 7th and 13th places respectively. Extended to pseudo-Scandinavian countries Iceland and Finland, we find the highest and 12th ranked countries. That means of the UN authorised list of the best places in the world to live, 5 of the top 13 countries are located in a very small geographical area.
Why is this important? Because Scandinavia is one of the most feminised regions in the world.
Crucially, this is not because of ‘feminism’. It’s not about the impact of specific females in positions of power (though these help). It is about Scandinavian society possessing a culture that accommodates the needs of women, utilises the skills of women and synthesises these into a flourishing nation state.
Let me give you one example: parental leave. It is a common assumption throughout large parts of the world that women exist to raise children. An illustration of this can be shown in comparative rates of leave available to parents of newborn children. Such an example highlights many powerful concepts. It shows the countries that value the role of women beyond the biological. It shows the countries that appreciate the necessity to divide life’s most significant responsibility amongst both parents. It shows the countries that appreciate that motherhood should be a choice, with options, not incarceration without support.
As you would expect, Scandinavia leads the way with parental leave entitlement. Swedes are offered up to 16 months which can be shared between parents in whatever proportion they choose. Norwegian fathers are forced to take a minimum of 6 weeks, whether they want to or not, whilst Danish mothers receive up to an entire year with full pay.
The outcome? Engaged fathers. Socially and economically active mothers. Women who do not have to make desperate choices between career and family, safe in the knowledge the system is designed to support them, not exclude them.
I chose parental leave to illustrate a point but it is one of hundreds of examples of how Scandinavia has embedded a culture of feminisation to its great and lasting benefit.
The point of all this for men? The sooner we start relinquishing our men-only view of the world, the sooner the world becomes a better place. This means ensuring political policies, economic models, justice systems and cultural mores reflect the 50% of the population that helps shape them. This isn’t something that can happen overnight but if each of us stops and thinks about what we have influence over, and whether we are reinforcing a detrimental gender-bias, then we will be on the road to progress in no time. The best places in the world to live have a little bit more regard for what women can offer. Shouldn’t that tell us something?
For more information on an excellent cause, please visit www.reachout.com.au or for more information on the book visit www.markpollard.net
