♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Gender Equality
at 8/03/2010 01:18:00 AM
The height of summer is here and even our dedicated scribes have gotten bored talking endlessly about unemployment. Or have they? The silly season is in as the press is having its fun with the headline that UK jobcentres will no longer place adverts for lap dancers and strippers, citing that these jobs may lead to "exploitation." I'd love to hear what cool papa Marx would have to say about that.
But seriously, there are genuine points of political-economic debate here. For those not following the feminist literature, there is a debate ongoing over the validity of such rulings regarding women's rights. On one hand, it may be good that the government is taking a more active stance towards protecting women. That's the traditional view. On the other hand, revisionists argue that it is paternalistic for the government to introduce such rules since women can themselves best identify whether such work is comfortable enough for them to engage in. Given tough times in Blighty, well, there may be more than adequate motivation to engage in such trades. Understandably, it's quite controversial stuff; read a bit more about it and see where you stand:Job centres will no longer be able to carry adverts for jobs in the sex industry under a ban announced by the government. The curb, which will come in with immediate effect, will cover jobs such as lap dancers and strippers. The government said this was to prevent jobseekers feeling they had to accept jobs they felt uncomfortable with.As I will need to move on soon, what's their say on, er, male dancers? Dontcha just love those raunchy hen parties?
However, adverts for vacancies such as a cleaning job in a lap dancing club would be allowed. The ban will only affect jobs which could lead to exploitation, Employment Minister Chris Grayling said.
The latest move is in response to a public consultation that the government said revealed "significant public concern" about the advertisement of sex industry jobs in job centres. Adult industry job adverts have been allowed in job centres since 2003, when lingerie chain Ann Summers won a legal fight to advertise for shop staff. Figures show that job centres advertised more than 350 jobs in the sex industry in 2008.
