The Socialist 7 February 2018
NHS - build the fightback
NHS day of action: all around the country
Tragic death exposes criminal understaffing of NHS
York socialists head resistance to NHS outsourcing
Capita in crisis: bring all outsourcers back in-house
90 feared dead after migrant boat capsizes
Corbyn's left must seize the advantage in Labour's civil war
Haringey: now's our chance for a no-cuts council
Walthamstow: occupy to save the town square
Scene set for TUSC conference electoral debate
Royal Mail forced back under threat of action
Unison national women's conference
Striking back against academies in Newham
May's silence is a green light for Chinese repression
Sudan: Mohamed Satti released - global solidarity campaign gets results!
Protesters denounce oppressive Sri Lankan regime
GCSE grading game stresses out students - even more than before!
Fighting sexism: Positive discrimination - yea or neigh?
Bernie's book shows need for workers' party
Darkest Hour: Not the usual flattery of brutal Tory Churchill
The Socialist Party is being evicted - we need you!
Yorkshire Socialist Party regional conference
PO Box 1398, Enfield EN1 9GT
020 8988 8777
Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/981/26843
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Featured letter
Fighting sexism: Positive discrimination - yea or neigh?
Does positive discrimination undermine or augment collective struggle? photo Campagne ROSA (Click to enlarge)
It's 100 years since women in Britain won, through militant struggle, limited adult suffrage.
Yet, today, the media is replete with examples of sexual harassment and abuse of women, and a stubbornly persistent gender pay gap.
Sport is no exception, with the recent trial of notorious serial abuser Larry Nasser, the disgraced former US sports doctor, and widespread examples of the continuing gender pay gap in prize money, opportunities and media coverage afforded to sportswomen.
Such discrimination has recently surfaced in horse racing. A recent number-crunching study by the racing industry showed no difference in performance between female and male jockeys.
Yet male jockeys monopolise the top-graded rides. It's clear that sexual discrimination accounts for the huge gender gap in winning rides.
Interestingly, Galop, the French horse racing authority, has given a weight allowance - an advantage in handicap events - to rides of female jockeys. Unsurprisingly trainers have prioritised female jockeys to take advantage, and the number of successful female riders has soared by 165%.
It raises the question: is 'positive discrimination' the way forward to level the playing field?
Leading female jockeys Josephine Gordon and Hayley Turner say the French allowance belittles their efforts to compete with male riders, whereas French jockey Maryline Eon says the allowance has helped her progress in a notoriously chauvinistic industry.
Positive discrimination is not new and has been repeatedly debated in the labour movement. But has widespread gender discrimination in today's society resurrected its efficacy?
Simon Carter, Forest Gate, east London
In this issue
Save our NHS
NHS day of action: all around the country
Tragic death exposes criminal understaffing of NHS
York socialists head resistance to NHS outsourcing
News
Capita in crisis: bring all outsourcers back in-house
90 feared dead after migrant boat capsizes
What we think
Corbyn's left must seize the advantage in Labour's civil war
Councils
Haringey: now's our chance for a no-cuts council
Walthamstow: occupy to save the town square
Scene set for TUSC conference electoral debate
Workplace
Royal Mail forced back under threat of action
Unison national women's conference
Striking back against academies in Newham
International socialist news and analysis
May's silence is a green light for Chinese repression
Sudan: Mohamed Satti released - global solidarity campaign gets results!
Protesters denounce oppressive Sri Lankan regime
Opinion
GCSE grading game stresses out students - even more than before!
Fighting sexism: Positive discrimination - yea or neigh?
Bernie's book shows need for workers' party
Darkest Hour: Not the usual flattery of brutal Tory Churchill
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
The Socialist Party is being evicted - we need you!
Yorkshire Socialist Party regional conference
Home | The Socialist 7 February 2018 | Join the Socialist Party
Related links:
Sexism in education: It shouldn't be like this!
Justice for victims of gender violence
Socialist Party national meeting: End violence against women
Online meeting - Ending violence against women, the socialist approach
A fighting programme for women's rights and socialism
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New law ignores economic barriers to escaping domestic abuse
Childcare in crisis: A socialist solution
Can the capitalist media prevent socialist change?
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