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Column The majority of care givers are women, but it shouldn't be prescribed upon us

Traditional gender roles serve as prescriptive claims about how girls and women should act. There are greater choices for both men and women now, so we need to reconcile our competing demands, writes Margaret O’Keefe.

ESSENTIALISM HAS BEEN described as an essence which categorises race, gender and personality. Professor Siobhán Mullally notes that a commitment to the ideal of ‘separate spheres’, based on the complementarity of male and female roles alongside the presumption of natural sexual differences between women and men is given legal recognition in the language of Article 41.2.1.

Traditional gender roles also serve as prescriptive claims about how girls and women should act. Thus, it may be claimed that all females are naturally better at care work. This type of claim may be followed by the claim that females should be the primary caretakers. Some men and women, however, prefer to work full-time in the home. Their choices need to be fully respected by us all.

Caring and domestic work

Despite the very welcome involvement of men in the care role, women continue to do the bulk of caring and domestic work. Data from the 2011 Census reveals that 61 per cent of carers are women.  They provide 66 per cent of all care hours, while 86 per cent of childcare is carried out by women.

Care obligations, however, may limit the individual’s active participation in Irish society at the social, cultural and economic level.  Successful entrepreneur Sarah Níc Lochlain has argued that if we want more women to become entrepreneurs and help rebuild the economy, then a national childcare scheme is needed.

Care provision is not a gender-specific issue. The need for ‘Cradle to Grave’ care provision is an issue for all human beings: male and female. Professor Kathleen Lynch said:

No human being, no matter how rich or powerful, can survive from birth without care and attention; many would die at different points in their lives, if seriously ill or in an accident, without care.

Significantly, in February 2013 the Constitutional Convention voted overwhelmingly to radically alter the “Women in Home” Clause in the Irish Constitution, rendering it more gender inclusive in its language and orientation. 97 per cent also supported more Government action to increase participation of women in public and political life.

Increasing entrepreneurship

If these recommendations are adopted and implemented they would foster a more positive environment for women and men who are carers to operate without constraint, realising their full potential as active citizens. The provision of complete care provision is necessary for a sustainable society and economy. Furthermore, increasing entrepreneurship is currently a critical policy concern. To achieve optimal outcomes, a comprehensive care system needs to be integral to ‘entrepreneurial ecosystems’ as business and government seek to embed enterprise and entrepreneurship across Irish society.

Women need to be present and active on issues that affect them and their families.  These issues include child, elder care and reproductive health. Above all, women need to be present when economic-related decisions, such as banking, finance, are made because these decisions can have a profound impact on their lives.

Power-sharing and decision-making

The Beijing Conference (1995) recommended that the international community and civil society, including non-governmental organisations and the private sector, act to reduce inequality between men and women in power-sharing and decision-making. Last year, along with other groups, the 5050 Group campaigned successfully for the introduction of legislation to increase the number of women on the ballot paper at general elections in the Republic of Ireland.

Last year, the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, signed that legislation – the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act – into law.  The Act ensures that women comprise 30 per cent of party candidates in the next general election. The figure will increase to 40 per cent seven years thereafter.

More women elected to the Oireachtas, while not a solution for our socio-economic ills, is likely to promote gender-sensitised care and family policies. Policy and practice models drawn from the Northern European context could be particularly useful. These models may facilitate greater choice for both men and women as they seek to reconcile the competing demands of work and family life.

Margaret O’Keefe is a lecturer in Community Development at Cork Institute of Technology. Both Margaret O’Keefe and Collette Finn are members of the 5050 Group – an organisation that are looking to achieve gender parity in Irish politics by the year 2020.

Column: Childcare is the main obstacle for women getting into business>

Constitutional Convention votes to alter ‘women in home’ clause>

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21 Comments
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    Mute Slew Lok
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    May 26th 2016, 2:46 PM

    So sad …. I hope there family is at peace …

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    Mute Dain Bramage
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    May 26th 2016, 9:36 PM

    Their.

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    Mute Ben Coughlan
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    May 26th 2016, 2:55 PM

    poor lady, still at 66, that’s an admirable way to spend your time, you could live for longer on the couch, but experience much less.

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    Mute Scarr
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    May 26th 2016, 3:54 PM

    Very sad for her family. Its probably hard for me to grasp the enormity of the area she was hiking in, as I instinctively think ‘just keep going 1 direction, you’ll meet civilization eventually’

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    Mute Paddy Ryan
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    May 26th 2016, 5:16 PM

    Even going in “one direction” becomes a problem in such a large wooded area unless you know how to navigate by the sun or stars. For some reason humans seem pre programmed to wander in circles.

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    Mute Ían Ó Ceallaigh
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    May 27th 2016, 10:45 AM

    Generally to do with your stride lengths being different, no? Without specific markers we can not walk in straight lines over time, we always gradually move more to the left or right (depends on the person)

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    Mute Jeni Moriarty
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    May 26th 2016, 5:27 PM

    So sad, at least her family got closure

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    Mute Debi Nikita
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    May 26th 2016, 9:10 PM

    She died alone. How awful for her. All the stories and reality documentaries that are shown on T. V. mounts up to nothing when you are alone in a situation such as this.

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    Mute Dave Smith
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    May 26th 2016, 3:27 PM

    interesting story. If she had put some effort into having an App like viewranger that would track her location using GPS she would have found her way back to the trail.

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    Mute Sarrah29
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    May 26th 2016, 3:34 PM

    You must have missed the part about her not having phone signal . . . Poor lady may she rest in peace.

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    Mute Stephen Cullen
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    May 26th 2016, 3:34 PM

    Dave you’re a idiot.

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    Mute Mise Éire
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    May 26th 2016, 3:35 PM

    Dave you muppet, most of those apps won’t function on the Appalachian trail. A compass and map will save you quicker than a crap app on your phone. Oh and have a heart while you’re at it.

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    Mute Dave Smith
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    May 26th 2016, 3:39 PM

    you don’t need a phone signal, you have the maps on your phone and the GPS tells you where you are.

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    Mute john
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    May 26th 2016, 3:47 PM

    Isnt there a compass app for phones?

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    Mute john kelly
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    May 26th 2016, 3:48 PM

    Hmm, Dave, I wonder did she pack a charger?

    89
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    Mute Dave Smith
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    May 26th 2016, 4:11 PM

    a charger would have helped, I wouldn’t even go out for a weekend without having a 3x charger. 80% of people doing the AT carry some kind of GPS these days and the trail itself is very well marked.

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    Mute Kevin De Groot
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    May 26th 2016, 7:01 PM

    Thank you Captain Hindsight!! God bless you!!

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    Mute NeilGoochFerriter
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    May 26th 2016, 11:39 PM

    Prize idiot.

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    Mute dublinlad
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    May 27th 2016, 1:35 AM

    Dave is right. I hike these trails and I have a app on my iPhone that shows your location by GPS. You won’t get a phone signal but the app works from satellite signals.

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    Mute Anthony Byrne
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    May 27th 2016, 8:00 AM

    There’s no app to fix Dave’s problem.

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    Mute Ían Ó Ceallaigh
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    May 27th 2016, 11:00 AM

    Indeed and anyone who would trust their life to a cell phone app should not be on the trail. They are good indicators but not exactly safety specced equipment.

    A good Personal Locator Beacon connecting with the COSPAS SARSAT is the only way to go. Phone sized radio beacons which will transmit for min 24 hours and cost only C.€250.

    Tragic what happened to this lady but hopefully anyone reading this will consider purchasing one of these devices, if they are going into the real wild (or even up our own mountains)

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    Mute Pat Gorman
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    May 28th 2016, 12:29 PM

    Dave is not an idiot.
    GPS has nothing to do with phone signals.
    A GPS device communicates directly with satellites orbiting overhead.
    A GPS device times the signals from known satellites and works out the exact position ion the ground.
    The “constellation” of overhead GPS satellites covers all areas on the earth.
    As you might have guessed…….it was once top secret American military technology.
    Before mobile phones.

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    Mute Pat Gorman
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    May 28th 2016, 12:58 PM

    P.S.
    This picture showy you what your GPS receiver connects to:

    https://lh5.ggpht.com/AUlwKe40rbidPHxZvDKdv-Rt0JawyKJGLwOvSXio21J6Nlg6XxgDFcEM-yNuG1eQVA=h900

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    Mute Paul Connell
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    May 27th 2016, 9:20 AM

    Good man Dave . You are a great wealth of information , if a bit insensitive . I am embarrassed for you.

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    Mute Ger
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    May 27th 2016, 4:06 AM

    I’ve hiked part of the application trail and while some parts are very well marked others others not. My biggest pet peeve there was the amount of times we ended up following trails but not the correct ones.Im guessing she must have taken a wrong trail somewhere because even in such a vast wilderness the main trail will have a steady stream of hikers. Im glad her family have peace. I wonder will they release the journal.

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    Mute Pat Gorman
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    May 28th 2016, 12:11 PM

    She was only three or four miles away from the trail.
    About an hour’s walk.
    She should have “walked the compass and returned if unsuccessful”.
    If she marked the spot she was lost and systematically walk 5 miles from her lost point and then returned she could have covered “all points of the compass” (N,S,E,W,NE,SE SW,NW) and reached safety.
    Clear thinking.
    Tragically…a dirt cheap ($50) GPS device would have saved her…NO phone signal is required for GPS.
    A cheap GPS receiver would tell her where she was anywhere on the earth to an accuracy of a meter or two.

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    Mute June Rose-Sommer
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    May 27th 2016, 5:25 PM

    That is so sad!! Very brave woman. It must have been very lonely and frightening for her. To know that you’re not getting out alive. Never to see your husband and daughter again!!

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