https://www2.polskieradio.pl/eo/dokument.aspx?iid=111975

No to gender quota

13.07.2009

 

Female scholars protest against the feminist attempts to introduce gender quota at universities and in politics.

 

Joanna Najfeld presents

 

A large feminist conference held in June in Warsaw, under the name of Congress of Polish women, came up with a list of demands to be introduced in Poland. Among them, the idea that the state should guarantee 50% of places for women at universities and in politics. Now female scholars have protested against the feminist attempts. 

 

Women are discriminated and need special help, that's why they should be guaranteed half the influence in major spheres of public life, claim the participants of the feminist conference, and pressure the authorities to implement their ideas. 'As women, we constitute over half of society, but our rights are not respected, we don't have the possibility to participate in the political life equally to men,' says one proponent of this idea.

 

However, not all women agree with the proposals of the feminists and they decided to speak up on this. Leftist feminists don't have the monopoly to speak in the name of women, the Congress of Polish Women was biased, imposing gender quota is offensive to women, who want to climb up the career ladder on the basis of their skills and hard work, feminist organizations waste state money on scientifically doubtful research projects, and on founding costly organizations to fight the alleged discrimination of women - these are some of the points of a letter "We don't want gender quota!" published in a major daily, signed by female professors, scientists, scholars, journalists, and scores of anonymous women.

 

Click on the audio icon to listen to the report.