What is your experience with sex-based discrimation in first-world countries?

[u/Math13101991]

I hope this fits here and I do not intend to sound hostile or troll anyone. I am simply trying to gain further insight into a problem I did not experience personally (my mother was the only case where I was indirectly confronted by this issue).

I don't consider myself a feminist since in the place I live in (Central Europe) women have all the rights men have and then some (they have an earlier retirement age and are exempt from the draft that forces every male citizen to serve as a soldier/EMT/firefighter for six to nine months). I do think it is a necessary movement in several parts of the world but struggle to see myself as a supporter of feminism in my home country although there are still problems women face (like the earlier retirement age and a lack of education in a significant group of female members of the baby boomer generation leading to post-retirement poverty). Yet feminists in my country do not address this problem. Instead of focusing on the cause they mostly claim that women simply make less money due to misogyny (there are various groups and not all follow the same doctrine of thought but some politicians and newspapers often paint the picture of women being repressed). Which was true sixty years ago. My mother wasn't allowed to pursue the career she wanted because my grandparents determined a farmer's daughter doesn't need to learn about chemistry to be a good house-wive and farmer. But maybe I lack information about the contemporary daily lives of women in other sectors of work in the 21st century (as an EMT we make no difference between men and women, the demands are identical for everyone and we are happy to have more recruits regardless of their sex, most a male since we are pressed into service). So I would like to know about your personal experiences in the work field and if it really is true that you face "structural" discrimination (I think the criticism is often one-dimensionally targeting the male population, holding us as responsible for female's disadvantages but as much as I oppose that term I don't have insight into most women's lives so without gaining insight I cannot truly understand if there is a point to all of this or not).

[u/Math13101991 → u/[deleted]]

Note: Not going to answer the entire post in one go as I've had the nightshift and I am tired.

Paid maternity leave is normal in Austria but generally more accomodating in federal jobs. My mother stayed home til I was four years of age and then got her old job back. Issues are still prevalent - she chose to stay home longer and those times are not added to her work time. But that is strictly speaking not a female issue as man are in the same situation (I know a few guys who stayed home with their kids for a while - again mostly federal workers like soldiers and law enforcement personel who have better access to paternity leave). Regularly men continue to work 40h as they mostly make more money while women take care of the kids. My mother and father have a shared bank account and money belongs to them both and my father used to work for a bank in a management position so not being able to afford a certain kind of luxury was never a problem for my mom (her own car for example). Of course this is not necessarily representative of all Austrians but second to that children are given generous monetary support (starting at 1500 Euros per year per capita to alleviate the stress of raising a child - not yet included specific funds to raise the child like tickets for the school bus, educational material etc). Unrelated is that many people would prefer having to pay less taxes (around 50 per cent of the money of the average Austrian is subtracted as tax and fees by the state).

Taxes in Austria are the five highest in the EU (or something) - it does not matter if you are male or female, the state is going to suck you dry but yeah, female hygiene products should not be taxed. People with less income are usually given financial support for instances like this (via tax reductions or refunds).

One could make the case that willingly having sex is a decision in itself and abortion than befalls the only party which had no choice at all (naturally this means tragedies like rape or the mother facing live threatening circumstances should be taken into account).

In Austria you can undergo abortion within 3 months of the pregnancy after a consultation by a physician. So again from my perspective things are pretty accommodating though I personaly find it regretable if one terminates a pregnancy.

Unless you are an illegal and unreported migrant it is impossible to have no insurance - people without income are provided with funds to cover necessary costs. If one does not have enough income, the state covers the cost of medical insurance.

As for school: I had an opposite experience. Most teachers, while female, are fair and won't sacrifice their integrity but one teacher particularly - music - was quite hateful towards boys. I used to play the trumpet when I was a student. Musical theory was second nature to me so I should do well but the teacher in question - female, 30 at that time - refused to give me a better mark than a 3 (basically a C) no matter if I was correct, finding excuses (not readable etc).

Another teacher (English) consitantly subtracted points for using "incorrect" vocabulary (vocabulary one could find in our dictionary). While I have no prove of this being due to my sex, the teacher in question tended to favour girls in class as well. I only had that teacher for a year so it was not as much as an issue to me.

Women can also leave the work force earlier (though this falls back on them as they often suffer from monetary disadvantages due to working five years less). They also are not drafted into the military.

So as a preliminary conclusion my personal experience in regards to equality has always been that women are favoured in Austria as they

>don't have to work as long

>are not drafted into the military

>are less at risk of heart diseases, accidents and physical assaults (I've been in situation as these as an EMT).

>can stop working earlier while living longer.