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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/she-said/2014/mar/26/no-maids-in-waiting-why-are-we-pillorying-dutch-firm-for-banning-female-staff-
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No maids in waiting - why are we pillorying Dutch firm for banning female staff ? | No maids in waiting - why are we pillorying Dutch firm for banning female staff ? |
(35 minutes later) | |
A Dutch caterer, Hans van der Linde, has been explaining to an indignant | A Dutch caterer, Hans van der Linde, has been explaining to an indignant |
international press why he decided that male-only waiting staff would | international press why he decided that male-only waiting staff would |
work better for lunch at the nuclear security summit at the Hague earlier this week. “If | work better for lunch at the nuclear security summit at the Hague earlier this week. “If |
20 gentlemen are serving and three platinum blonde ladies, then that | 20 gentlemen are serving and three platinum blonde ladies, then that |
spoils the image”. Indeed. In official photographs of the world leaders at the meeting, you can immediately spot how the presence of | spoils the image”. Indeed. In official photographs of the world leaders at the meeting, you can immediately spot how the presence of |
ladies, even when they are dark-haired and comprehensively outnumbered, | ladies, even when they are dark-haired and comprehensively outnumbered, |
can still destroy, as Mr van der Linde has argued, any hope of visual | can still destroy, as Mr van der Linde has argued, any hope of visual |
homogeneity - in which respect Angela Merkel’s red jacket must have | homogeneity - in which respect Angela Merkel’s red jacket must have |
been especially unwelcome. And those of us hoping for a safer world can | been especially unwelcome. And those of us hoping for a safer world can |
only hope that the threat of the German chancellor distracting her | only hope that the threat of the German chancellor distracting her |
male colleagues from the pursuit of nuclear security has been dealt with | male colleagues from the pursuit of nuclear security has been dealt with |
as competently as the similar risks to male concentration that would be | as competently as the similar risks to male concentration that would be |
presented by female waitresses, at least according to protective summit | presented by female waitresses, at least according to protective summit |
official Jean-Paul Weijers. | |
It seems all the more unfair to pillory Mr van der Linde and Mr | |
Weijers when the Dutch purge only differs from many similar efforts in | Weijers when the Dutch purge only differs from many similar efforts in |
this country in having been so successfully realised. A photograph of | this country in having been so successfully realised. A photograph of |
the Tory front bench was only disfigured, recently, by the presence of | the Tory front bench was only disfigured, recently, by the presence of |
two women, clearly visible on the second row back. Similarly, the | two women, clearly visible on the second row back. Similarly, the |
inclusion of just three women’s names among the 19 progressive | inclusion of just three women’s names among the 19 progressive |
signatories to the new letter asking for more radicalism from David | signatories to the new letter asking for more radicalism from David |
Miliband, indicates what can only have been a concerted attempt at male | Miliband, indicates what can only have been a concerted attempt at male |
uniformity. | |
For it is too much for us to believe, surely, that 16 progressive | |
gentlemen from our leading think tanks could just not have noticed, as | gentlemen from our leading think tanks could just not have noticed, as |
they finessed the wording, that they outnumbered women writers by over | they finessed the wording, that they outnumbered women writers by over |
five to one on a radical document that demanded among other things, | five to one on a radical document that demanded among other things, |
“transformative” change, the creation “of a much more equal and | “transformative” change, the creation “of a much more equal and |
sustainable society”, and the “empowerment of everybody”. | |
No, the idea that a battalion of progressives could call for the | |
empowerment of everybody, and not spot that they embodied a worse sex | empowerment of everybody, and not spot that they embodied a worse sex |
ratio than the Tory cabinet is almost as preposterous as the creation of | ratio than the Tory cabinet is almost as preposterous as the creation of |
an all-women blog in 2014. | an all-women blog in 2014. |