Discrimination against men in employment
- Active prejudice towards men by employers
- Prejudicial treatment of male workers
Nature
Discrimination against recruiting men for occupations of low status or with low pay or with few promotion prospects arises because such occupations are conventionally considered more suitable for women. Dirty or dangerous jobs, felt to be unsuitable for women, will be allocated to men. In developed countries women and male immigrant workers share a large proportion of the most menial and worst-paid jobs. Recruitment for occupations traditionally regarded as 'women's work': secretarial, nursing, teaching and social work, may exclude male applicants; where formerly skilled trades can be turned over to keyboard-style machines, women will be employed in preference since they are relatively cheap labour.
Claim
Men should have flexible hours to help care for new-born children, men should be able to retire at the same age as women, and women should be allowed to have more dirty or dangerous jobs. Male office workers should be allowed to wear what they want, with neckties being abolished during warm weather.