#Auspol #UnprofessionalBehaviourInTheWorkplace #Sexism #Crapitalism
An ABC news report headed “Neurosurgeon Greg Malham accused of 'sexist' and 'unprofessional' behaviour by colleagues and patients” details a litany of complaints about really obnoxious workplace behaviour, and as an old fart retired from the workforce, I feel moved to make some observations.
whatever we think of private hospitals, the real problem is australian/western culture, which is deeply sexist (and racist/ classist)
people with no independent means of providing for themselves (most of us) are coerced into working for an employer. we do not all have equal power relationships in this system. the system sux, and pretending it is perfect does not make the system suck less. (even adam smith, oft misquoted darling of neo-lib ning-nongs addressed the issue of unequal bargaining power in his book the wealth of nations)
as a very young person, (1960s and 70s) i changed jobs every two or three months, not just because a) pay and opportunities for females were shit but mostly b) everywhere i went i was pressured/groped/mauled by blokes who thought women existed solely as a place to park their penis.
okay — other females were probably better able to assert themselves, but this just supports the idea that predatory types love to zero in on vulnerable people.
the surgeon in this current story is an arsehole, not because he is a surgeon or because he works in private hospitals, but because the world we have designed favours and protects arseholes. so many women in this story report a sense of dread working in or around him, but when you need an income, you put up with this shit. then some politician bitches about paying unemployment benefits, people not wanting to work for a living etc, as if every workplace is happyland, and no one has a duty of care to make workplaces safe.
all the people in this story who are surprised no one complained or fought back or reported the surgeon are missing the point — if you complain you become unemployable. (of course, if you just keep changing jobs you also become unemployable because you are then seen as flighty or unreliable).
surgeons have personalities, just like everyone else. painting this guy as somehow exceptional just lets too many people off the hook — all the people (male, female or otherwise) who keep drinking the kool aid and perpetuating all our narratives about gender, and what constitutes normal or acceptable behaviour.
people with power in workplaces who tolerate this kind of behaviour are all complicit. (I’m especially looking at you, senator).
the outward appearances might evolve, but the song remains the same: there is a problematic lack of respect for life at the heart of our culture, cos crapitalism favours narcissists
