Men lashing out at women over an empowering IWD article is bizarre

Some comments left by men on an article to celebrate International Women’s Day were so disgusting they couldn’t be published.

OPINION

“Most ‘professional’ women are just clueless vapid individuals. Hopefully they will never breed.”

“Which one is it? Do you want attention or do you want to be ignored? Can’t have both or are you all pulling in different directions?”

“How can they be taken seriously when they praise what is essentially nudity on the fashion stage and then complain when they are treated like objects.”

“Ah yes, International Women’s Day, when all men have to grovel and hang their heads in shame while being used as society’s punching bag.”

That’s just a selection of the comments left by men on an article published by news.com.au to mark International Women’s Day (IWD). Many were too vile to publish.

The article was an empowering piece about obstacles 100 Aussie woman have overcome in their lives and still managed to thrive. Themes included sexual harassment, being overlooked for promotions and trying to balance childcare with work.

Bizarrely, some men who read this took it as a direct criticism of them and chose to lash out towards women in the comments section.

Some men are triggered by International Women’s Day. Picture: news.com.au.

Why do some men see women wanting a fair go as an insult to them? Are they worried that women rising to the top will expose their misgivings?

By writing those comments they are proving the very reason why women need to have a day to not only celebrate their achievements but also highlight the challenges they still face.

The problem is, it’s not just a few rogue commenters online that think this way. Research firm Ipsos found that 30 per cent of men in Australia think gender inequality does not exist, that’s only 7 per cent less than Saudia Arabia where women can’t travel around without a male companion.

Ipsos also found that men are also more likely to question whether feminism does more harm than good and say men have lost out due to feminism.

Some men believe they are losing out due to feminism. Picture: William West/AFP

While I can understand that men may not be keen to disband a system that has been constructed for them to thrive in, surely they understand why women have had enough?

Findings from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency found that in 2020-21, the gender pay gap fell but on average women still earned $25,800 less than men. Women make up 50 per cent of the workforce but less than 20 per cent of CEOs. Men are twice as likely to earn $120,000 or more than women.

Analysis from Finder revealed on average, men retire with 26 per cent more super than women. To make up for this discrepancy, the average woman would have to supplement an extra $236 per month into her super, or alternatively, work an extra 11 years.

These figures are facts – this is why some women are angry and impatient for change.

On top of this financial unfairness, there is the issue of gender-based violence which is a problem that doesn’t seem to be going away.

One woman a week is still being murdered by her current or former partner (it’s one a month for men) and 1 in 5 women have experienced sexual violence (for men it’s 1 in 16).

Anyone experiencing violence in the home needs help to get away from that situation and as the issue is disproportionately impacting women, they need their voices to be heard. It’s not a competition about who is more worthy – lives are at stake.

Every March 8, as women across the world mark International Women’s Day, there is the same inevitable question that comes from some men: “What about International Men’s Day, eh?”

It’s a stupid question for many reasons but mainly because there is an International Men’s Day – it’s on November 19. Men who are concerned about making sure they raise awareness of issues facing men today are more than welcome to use this day to highlight those concerns.

High rates of suicide, terrible rates of workplace accidents and homophobia to name a few. No woman I know would have an issue with men wanting to talk about these problems.

So today, maybe instead of asking when International Men’s Day is, men should be asking what they can do to help on IWD.

Here’s a few ideas to start with:

– Call out sexism. If you hear a woman being talked over and a man taking credit for their idea, call them out.

– If you have kids then take your paternity leave and top up your partner’s super if possible.

– If you’re in charge of a company make sure you don’t have a gender pay gap.

– Listen to and believe women when they say they’ve been harassed or abused.

Women aren’t marking IWD to make men feel uncomfortable. We are doing it because equality still hasn’t been achieved. We still have a long way to go and we need men to be on our side.

Riah Matthews is the commissioning editor for news.com.au.