It doesn't seem to be working very well, but I had forgotten the fact that a father actually has that right. To take a paternity leave when he becomes a father. Now that would really be a pure philosophical reasoning if he would be treated the same way, as I have seen no such cases as this involving men. That may be dependent on a few things: We don't think it's discrimination because the argument in this case, although it may be formulated to hide sexual discrimination, does have a valid logic. Combine that with the fact that we don't necessarily have to think about whether or not we are being discriminated (I don't think most men do) and this case may have happened to a man, but because we as men are thinking in a different way compared to women, noone has voiced any concern about it.


DISCLAIMER: I really don't know how to say this right when referring to this case, so I decided to give a little explanation on my view concerning women working.

I don't see women as inferior workers for the most part. It's a physiological fact that men in general have the more developed muscles, so for heavy work it's generally a good idea to hire men instead of women. However, if you are an industrial employer/heavy-work employer, you don't have the right to say you won't hire someone just because they are female. (That goes for both the legal and the moral side of the case) You have to judge the individual, not the gender.

The same goes for employers in what are considered female professions, whereas most of these are taking care of other people, e.g. nurses, kindergarten teachers. They don't have the right to reject to hire someone just because they are male.

To recapitulate: There are some areas of professional life where you as a person, due to your physiology, might not be suited as an employee. But I would say that that concerns probably 1-2% of all jobs out there. I have seen cases where both women and men use the "sexual discrimination"-card to get the job no matter what because they want it regardless of whether they are fit for the job. I think you have to look at the job before you and look at yourself and see whether you truly are fit for a job before you play that card. If you want that job solely to prove a point in the gender issues, you are not fit for the job.

PS: This might evolve into another discussion, so if you want to discuss the difference of men and women in the workplace with me, give me a PM and I will start a new thread regarding that. This one is for this particular case.