By James Chapman
Last updated at 12:27 PM on 25th January 2011
Last updated at 12:27 PM on 25th January 2011
Men are increasingly the victims of ‘obnoxious bigotry’ by women and should start ‘burning their briefs’ in protest, according to a rising Tory star.
Dominic Raab, a new Tory MP tipped for high office, said men were getting a ‘raw deal’ from the cradle to the grave following years of anti-discrimination legislation favouring women.
He pointed out women in their 20s are now paid more than their male peers, who work longer hours, retire later and die earlier.
Mr Raab, the 37-year-old MP for Esher and Walton in Surrey and a former chief of staff to David Davis, called for an end to what he called feminist bigotry.
Mr Raab (pictured with his wife Erika) is the 37-year-old MP for Esher and Walton in Surrey and a former chief of staff to David Davis. He has demanded an end to what he calls feminist bigotry
He said men were blamed by society for the banking crisis, discriminated against by parental leave rules which favour women who want time off and ignored by the courts when relationships break down and they seek custody of their children.
Mr Raab suggested men should rise up against what he called the ‘equality bandwagon’, which has pitted them against women since the 1960s, likening the cause to that of the Suffragettes.
‘Maybe it’s time men started burning their briefs, to put to an end once and for all what Emmeline Pankhurst used to call “the double standard of sex morals”, the MP wrote in an article for the politicshome.com website.
Mr Raab welcomed the Government’s plans to make the system of parental leave more flexible, by allowing mothers and fathers to divide up time off evenly.
He said that sort of policy was more relevant than Labour’s ‘outdated and obsolete equality and diversity agenda’.
‘Take the gender pay gap. The fascinating thing is just how sexist its champions have become,’ he said. ‘It is almost taboo for a man to question the assertion that the rapidly dwindling pay gap is the result of discrimination, rather than genuine choice,’ he said.
‘Yet, research shows the pay gap has halved since the 1970s. Office for National Statistics data in December showed that, since 1997, the difference between full-time median earnings has fallen from 17 per cent to 10 per cent – and the shrinkage is accelerating.
'According to research for the Institute for Economic Affairs, women in their 20s earn one per cent more than men, single women a shade more.
'Gay men earn more than straight men, lesbian women more than heterosexual women. Does that sound like a society riddled with discrimination?
‘Meanwhile, pay is just one of the terms of employment. Men work longer hours, enjoy their jobs less, commute further and are more likely to get the sack.’
Mr Raab said Britain now had some of the toughest anti-discrimination laws in the world, but was ‘blind to some of the most flagrant discrimination – against men’.
‘From the cradle to the grave, men are getting a raw deal. Men work longer hours, die earlier, but retire later than women. That won’t be fixed for another seven years.
‘One reason women are left "holding the baby” is anti-male discrimination in rights of maternity/paternity leave.
‘Meanwhile, young boys are educationally disadvantaged compared to girls, and divorced or separated fathers are systematically ignored by the courts.’
Mr Raab – whose wife Erika works in marketing for a major IT firm – said there was also more subtle sexism.
He said: ‘One Financial Times commentator recently complained that: “High-flying women are programmed to go for high-flying men. Most men aren’t attracted to women who are more successful than they are”.
‘Can you imagine the outrage if such trite generalisations were made about women, or other minorities? Feminists are now amongst the most obnoxious bigots.’
But Harriet Harman, Labour deputy leader and former equality minister, said: ‘Women still earn 20 per cent less than men, domestic violence claims the lives of women every week and women bear the brunt of poverty in the developing world.’
Labour MP Kate Green, former chairman of the London Child Poverty Commission, said: ‘This is exactly the kind of attitude that shows the Tories are out of touch.’
Mr Raab suggested men should rise up against what he called the ‘equality bandwagon’, which has pitted them against women since the 1960s, likening the cause to that of the Suffragettes.
‘Maybe it’s time men started burning their briefs, to put to an end once and for all what Emmeline Pankhurst used to call “the double standard of sex morals”, the MP wrote in an article for the politicshome.com website.
Mr Raab welcomed the Government’s plans to make the system of parental leave more flexible, by allowing mothers and fathers to divide up time off evenly.
He said that sort of policy was more relevant than Labour’s ‘outdated and obsolete equality and diversity agenda’.
‘Take the gender pay gap. The fascinating thing is just how sexist its champions have become,’ he said. ‘It is almost taboo for a man to question the assertion that the rapidly dwindling pay gap is the result of discrimination, rather than genuine choice,’ he said.
MP'S FIGHTING TALK
Role model? Emmeline Pankhurst in 1914
'It's time men burned their briefs, to put to an end once and for all to what Emmeline Pankhurst called ''the double standard of sex morals''
Feminists are now amongst the most obnoxious bigotsFrom cradle to grave, men are getting a raw deal. They work longer hours, die earlier and retire later than women
You can’t have it both ways – either you believe in equality or you don't'‘Yet, research shows the pay gap has halved since the 1970s. Office for National Statistics data in December showed that, since 1997, the difference between full-time median earnings has fallen from 17 per cent to 10 per cent – and the shrinkage is accelerating.
'According to research for the Institute for Economic Affairs, women in their 20s earn one per cent more than men, single women a shade more.
'Gay men earn more than straight men, lesbian women more than heterosexual women. Does that sound like a society riddled with discrimination?
‘Meanwhile, pay is just one of the terms of employment. Men work longer hours, enjoy their jobs less, commute further and are more likely to get the sack.’
Mr Raab said Britain now had some of the toughest anti-discrimination laws in the world, but was ‘blind to some of the most flagrant discrimination – against men’.
‘From the cradle to the grave, men are getting a raw deal. Men work longer hours, die earlier, but retire later than women. That won’t be fixed for another seven years.
‘One reason women are left "holding the baby” is anti-male discrimination in rights of maternity/paternity leave.
‘Meanwhile, young boys are educationally disadvantaged compared to girls, and divorced or separated fathers are systematically ignored by the courts.’
Mr Raab – whose wife Erika works in marketing for a major IT firm – said there was also more subtle sexism.
He said: ‘One Financial Times commentator recently complained that: “High-flying women are programmed to go for high-flying men. Most men aren’t attracted to women who are more successful than they are”.
‘Can you imagine the outrage if such trite generalisations were made about women, or other minorities? Feminists are now amongst the most obnoxious bigots.’
But Harriet Harman, Labour deputy leader and former equality minister, said: ‘Women still earn 20 per cent less than men, domestic violence claims the lives of women every week and women bear the brunt of poverty in the developing world.’
Labour MP Kate Green, former chairman of the London Child Poverty Commission, said: ‘This is exactly the kind of attitude that shows the Tories are out of touch.’
