Hero, Misguided Fool or simply Out of Touch

In a modern world when fools are more often the ones found by the media, along comes a man who thinks he has said what every boss (especially male) has thought since women started working.  Some will be applauding Mr Thompson, but only some.  A vast majority of us though know differently.  Mr Thompson has made a huge mistake in the sense that he didn't continue to voice his controversial opinions at his local freemasonry, and not in the national media.

But what is the real issue here?  The messenger or the message?  We're all aware of the messengers' comments but what of those comments?  Is it defensive of society, especially working women as regards the message, is it reality, or is it just a storm in a tea cup?

From my own personal perspective I think maybe a storm in a tea cup.  When I was in the Navy, our ship was the first to trial women at sea, in 1987.  Attitudes in the Navy to this varied , from the likes of myself, welcoming them into the fold, to those who had no opinion, to those that were vehemently opposed to it.  Yes there was a lot of talking about women filling roles at sea of male colleagues, but once the trial was underway it was plain to most that they earned their right to be there.  That's when I noticed something.  Yes some women did change behaviour once a month, though not every month.  But I wasn't the only one noticing it.  The die-hards that didn't want them there became very outspoken on the phenomenon to the point they started causing ructions in what should have been a big team.

One day one of the outspoken initiated a conversation with me when drunk, knowing full well I backed the ladies being there and spewed out all this rubbish about the females not pulling their weight when they had their periods.  I turned to him and said that I have more issues with hungover males than menstruating females and he was one of them.

The longer I served in the Navy, the more welcomed the ladies were, to a point that in my last 7 years I never once heard a derogatory comment accordingly.  It was also noticeable that those that were against them being at sea left the navy soon after.

So it's fair to say The Old Boys Network still exists in society and there are a few die-hard moralists working behind closed doors to destabilise the role of women in that same society, but they are few and far between.  Thankfully.

On closing, will Alisdair Thompson be The Man and step down from all public office?  And will he still prowl the supermarket checkouts looking for the male checkout operator so he can't catch menstruation (which may be too late, seems he's been bleeding from one of his orifices already).