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California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law today that requires major companies with headquarters in California — including many household-name tech firms — to have at least one woman on their boards by next year, and depending on the size of the board, up to three women by 2021.
The law is the first of its kind in the U.S., and proponents say it's needed to equalize the representation of women in corporate boardroom. Currently, a quarter of California's publicly traded companies do not have a woman on their boards. Companies that fail to comply with the new rule face fines of $100,000 for a first violation and $300,000 for a second or subsequent violation.
The law already faces opposition from business groups, which could challenge the basis of preferential hiring toward women. In signing the bill, Gov. Brown acknowledged the bill's "potential flaws" that could prove "fatal" to implementation, but nevertheless supported its passing, citing "recent events in Washington, D.C. — and beyond — make it crystal clear that many are not getting the message" around gender equality.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @04:30PM (18 children)
Surely the moonbeam stasi would never assume somebodies gender and blindly accept the social constructionist theory of gender over biological sex? Or are they planning to discriminate against gender fluid individuals?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @04:41PM
Just keep your gender fluids to yourself.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @05:09PM (16 children)
Only somebody who believes that gender is 100% a social construct can say with certainty that it is not possible that the brain is a gendered organ with biological sex. Such a person would need to explain toy preferences shown by infants in the crib, for example, in terms of socialization. It seems more plausible that the brain is, in fact, a gendered organ. But let us evaluate the implications either way.
If the brain is a gendered organ, that allows us an argument against laws such as these. Then we may propose that men and women have different preferences, independent of socialization. Therefore, we cannot necessarily attribute the disproportionate prevalence of males in board rooms to discrimination, and it may not even be possible to have an equal number of women in board rooms.
However, if one says that gender is 100% a social construct and that the brain is not a gendered organ, then one must admit that the only possible explanation for the disproportionate prevalence of males in board rooms either due to explicit discrimination or cultural misogyny. Therefore, if the brain is not a gendered organ, then we must enact laws such as these. If the brain is not a gendered organ, then the lack of women in board rooms has no rational basis.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday October 03 2018, @07:21PM (15 children)
That's too simplistic. The fact that there is some biological basis to gender expression is why I'm not a TERF; I see transgender conditions as birth defects, same as homosexuality likely is, and yes, that means I consider myself a defect in that sense. Gender identity is weird in that it has some biological basis and some sociological basis, and what people end up identifying as is going to depend somewhat on their cultural milieu.
In India, for example, someone we'd call a transwoman might call herself hijra, and be recognized as a third gender entirely. Some (American) Indian cultures have the concept of two-spirit, or *both* genders in one body. Some cultures would call me third gender despite being entirely cisgender by my culture's standards, because "she has the desires of a man."
In no case does any of this pertain to these laws, or discrimination, which itself is almost entirely culture-bound and to a far larger extent than gender identity.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @07:50PM (6 children)
No large disagreements here. It is even arguable whether LGBT people are, in fact, "defects." One may construct compelling arguments that LGBT is a feature, not a bug. Additionally, LGBT seems to be a common phenomenon in all mammals.
I hoped to keep it at a level a reactionary could understand. :-)
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday October 03 2018, @10:40PM
However, your assertion of T being found would require some citations, and some less ambiguous definitions of T than the extremely nebulous one in common use (which is pretty much defined by its inverse, and therefore a bit of a cover-all).
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday October 03 2018, @11:14PM (2 children)
According to evolution and nature I am definitely a defect. What's the point in all those resources going to a womb that's never going to bear children? From the PoV of my genes I may as well already be 90 years old with advanced Alzheimer's. Fortunately, as I said before, intelligence means we can tell mother nature to go get stuffed.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @03:49AM
From the POV of your genetic line: yes, you're probably right (and welcome to the 'dead end' gene club, BTW..)
From the POV of nature & evolution: they don't care, that's the way the game's played..
From the POV of humanity: who knows?, depends on your views on the nature of 'tribes', 'races', 'cultures', 'nations' etc, do they constitute meta-organisms?, some sort of metahomo gregis, are we then the 'junk' in the meta-DNA?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @11:47AM
Worker ants don't reproduce - are they defective and a waste a resources? Personal genetic legacy isn't the sole driver.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @12:03AM (1 child)
why flamebait?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @03:32AM
Why "reactionary"?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @09:28PM (7 children)
My comment above has been modded troll, which is fair but ignores the point I was raising. Rhetorically: Are we legislatively discriminating on the basis of gender identity or biological sex in the name of equality today? One of these options renders the law ridiculous. All else aside, there's a difference between equality of opportunity and outcome. The latter can only ever be discriminatory and authoritarian which is enough for me to oppose this law.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @09:35PM (3 children)
This is actually a really good question.
Yes. Legislating on the basis of something as vague as biological sex is ridiculous.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @10:31PM (2 children)
So how does California know what percentage of men or women are on corporate boards? Is the state government assuming their gender?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @12:28AM
Yes, but it's good to assume gender if you're promoting feminism, if you're a liberal, or if you're disparaging the right wing.
It's only a bad thing to assume gender if you're a straight white conservative male.
(Equality, my ass.....)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @04:00AM
More to the point, how many of these 'men' self-identify as women? and does this law, by it's insistence on a quota of Somatically natural females (with no mention of how they self-identify) discriminate against them?, will we see somatically male 'women' being replaced with somatically female 'men'?
Popcorn time..
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Wednesday October 03 2018, @10:48PM (2 children)
You randomly insulted a group of people and then were surprised you scored a downmod?
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @11:13PM (1 child)
I randomly insulted a bunch of moonbeam stasi of which you, randomfactor are a member?
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Thursday October 04 2018, @10:52PM
Haven't had that particular appellation applied to me before. I'll add it to the collection.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды