Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Who gives way?
What happens when the irresistable force of feminism meets the immovable object of Maori custom? In this case, it could mean the loss of a job.
According to the NZ Herald, probation officer says she broke Maori protocol by refusing to sit at the back of the room during a ceremony because it was degrading towards women.
Josie Bullock's protest, at a farewell to prisoners last month at the probation service office in Panmure, is being investigated by the Corrections Department. Ms Bullock was asked to move from her front-row seat to the back of the room after being told that Maori custom required women to sit behind the men. But she refused, insisting she would remain in her seat.
Ms Bullock says she made the stance in protest at the sexism of such ceremonies, which "relegates women to the back". Reasons she had been given for the protocol included that men were "like Gods" and that men sat in front to "protect the women". She compared the move to "blacks" being made to sit at the back of the bus, "as they were forced to do in the American South in the 1950s". What was particularly degrading, she said, was that a boy aged 10 sat at the front of the room while she was asked to move.
The Maori Staff Network said in a letter that Ms Bullock's actions were insensitive and created an uncomfortable situation, particularly for Maori staff members involved.
A letter addressed to Ms Bullock from Community Probation Service acting regional manager Paul Tomlinson said the matter was "very serious". The department's code of conduct said that there was a need to maintain a "politically neutral" public service. He warned her that if staff did not do this they could lose their job.
Whatever the merits of Ms Bullock's case, I fail to see how taking the side of Maori culture is being "politically neutral". But we await developments (if the outcome will ever be published).
What happens when the irresistable force of feminism meets the immovable object of Maori custom? In this case, it could mean the loss of a job.
According to the NZ Herald, probation officer says she broke Maori protocol by refusing to sit at the back of the room during a ceremony because it was degrading towards women.
Josie Bullock's protest, at a farewell to prisoners last month at the probation service office in Panmure, is being investigated by the Corrections Department. Ms Bullock was asked to move from her front-row seat to the back of the room after being told that Maori custom required women to sit behind the men. But she refused, insisting she would remain in her seat.
Ms Bullock says she made the stance in protest at the sexism of such ceremonies, which "relegates women to the back". Reasons she had been given for the protocol included that men were "like Gods" and that men sat in front to "protect the women". She compared the move to "blacks" being made to sit at the back of the bus, "as they were forced to do in the American South in the 1950s". What was particularly degrading, she said, was that a boy aged 10 sat at the front of the room while she was asked to move.
The Maori Staff Network said in a letter that Ms Bullock's actions were insensitive and created an uncomfortable situation, particularly for Maori staff members involved.
A letter addressed to Ms Bullock from Community Probation Service acting regional manager Paul Tomlinson said the matter was "very serious". The department's code of conduct said that there was a need to maintain a "politically neutral" public service. He warned her that if staff did not do this they could lose their job.
Whatever the merits of Ms Bullock's case, I fail to see how taking the side of Maori culture is being "politically neutral". But we await developments (if the outcome will ever be published).
