Are we there yet?

My daughter and I were out and about this morning.  We had to stop to watch a huge tree being chopped down by a pair of arborists.  The arborist abseiling around the top of the tree was… a woman.

After watching for a few minutes we continued on to walk by a fire engine being driven by… a woman.

We then walked by a construction site.  The digger driver was… a woman.

My question is simple.  Are we there yet?  Has feminism done a major part of what it intended to do – ensure women can have access to once male dominated areas?  Or has the agenda of feminism (good and bad) evolved into something else?

I still wonder if some who call themselves feminists are stuck on the idea of equality of destination over equality of opportunity.

I know that the likes of The Hand-mirror and The Standard will roar on about how women earn less than men in the same position however how much of that is because of each individual woman’s negotiation skills and own expectations of income vs big bad paternalistic society imposing lesser salaries on women.  And, yes, I know there are some pricks for employers  (male and female alike)!

As a child I remember getting my first “Girls can do anything” sticker.  Before I got that sticker I hadn’t even considered women or girls couldn’t do anything.  My parents instilled in me that I could do and be anything I put my mind to.  Where there is a will there is a way.  They (and my step parents) still believe that to this day.

I accept that real discrimination takes place – but how much of the gender discrimination espoused by so many on the Left is the “eye of the beholder” or an individual woman’s own expectations or lack of self esteem and awareness?

Frankly, women get a harder time from other women than they do from men.  That is another post altogether!