Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!agate!fay%pinocchio@multimax.ARPA
From: fay%pinocchio@multimax.ARPA (Peter Fay)
Newsgroups: comp.society.women
Subject: Re: Discrimination?
Message-ID: <12105@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 13 Jul 88 14:10:12 GMT
References: <11732@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: usenet@agate.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: Encore Computer Corp, Marlboro, MA
Lines: 39
Approved: skyler@violet.berkeley.edu (Moderator -- Trish Roberts)
Comments-to: comp-women-request@cs.purdue.edu
Submissions-to: comp-women@cs.purdue.edu


In article <11732@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> seeker@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Karen Lynn White) writes:
>I'm bringing this up for advice but also because I wonder if a
>lot of women find a place to work where they can pick up
>kids or work flex-time without hassle and then stay there
>when the money could be much better somewhere else.  Is it 
>common to settle for fewer benefits in a comfortable place to work?

One thing that many (most?) probably don't realize, is that these
insidious aspects of employment (lack of daycare or flextime, 
disallowing work-at-home or time for other parenting stuff, benefit
inequities, etc.) which are always termed "discriminatory toward
women" (which they are) often hurt men as well.

I worked for the second largest insurance company for a while in
Hartford (it employed thousands of women but had no daycare
facilities). Out of my training class of 20, (50% women) I was the
only single parent (I was raising two babies by myself) and the only
one to be assigned to a position which immediately required being on
call nights and weekends. The personnel director and my supervisor
(both women) knew my situation but just couldn't care less.

For six months I continually risked my job by trying to get the 
sysop to fix the problems over the phone at 4 a.m. without my coming
into work, and by taking unauthorized time off (for court hearings
- the mother wouldn't pay child support). Luckily for me (and my
children) there was a coworker (a older man) who used to cover-up
for me in my absences, go into work for me at 3 a.m., etc. I am
eternally greatful to that person because I was unemployed one year
previously, and probably would have lost custody of my kids if I was
fired.

Anyway, the point is that many single fathers, or just fathers who
might otherwise take on a more equal share of child-raising, are
harmed and discouraged by the "male" attitude that ignores the needs
of "mothers" (really "parents") in the workplace.

 		peter fay
Arpanet:	fay@multimax.arpa
UUCP: {bu-cs,decvax,necntc,talcott}!encore!fay