Anyone who knows anything about the Titanic disaster will be familiar with the phrase “women and children first” – also known as the Birkenhead Drill.
Today we’re all quite familiar with this concept – it was, obviously, a code of conduct from the 19th century onward for maritime disasters. It was expected that, if lifeboats were in short supply during a crisis at sea, women and children should take priority to be saved first, as it was the duty of men to protect the more vulnerable – even if it cost a man his life.
As a consequence of this rule, 74% of the women on the Titanic survived, as did 52% of the children. Meanwhile, only 20% of the adult male passengers made it – 80% of the men, the vast majority, went without a lifeboat and perished. Of the few men who survived, many were branded cowards upon their return and shamed for taking up spaces on the boats that could have gone to a woman or a child.
The expectation was, as a man, your job is to lay down your life for any woman or child in danger. And this is an attitude we still hold today, most recently displayed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As the United Nations warns of millions of refugees fleeing the war torn country, the Ukrainian government has imposed a rule: all males between the ages of 18 and 60 must stay and fight for their country and their communities. Meanwhile, women, children and the infirm are free to flee to safety, as the men of Ukraine dive head first into the meatgrinder of Russian bullets, bombs and artillery.
One gender gets to run to safety. The other has to fight and likely die against a far stronger enemy army with a line of tanks miles long.
But which has it harder? Well, if you ask Labour or Sinn Féin politicians, the former of course.
Take Labour Senator Annie Hoey, who described war as “one of the most gendered of experiences.”
Annie Hoey, Labour – Women suffer most in war because they lose their fathers and brothers.
The lack of self awareness is incredible, really. pic.twitter.com/1gkw3Xc1jU— JRD (@JRD0000) March 8, 2022
“I want to briefly talk about International Women’s Day in Ukraine,” she said.
“It could be argued that war is one of the most gendered of experiences. While men in the main depart their homes to fight at the front lines, women and their children in general are left with few options – stand to protect their homes, organise resistance movements or flee.”
Now, it’s certainly true that women have few options in war. But “few” is still more options than “none,” which is what Ukrainian men are currently presented with. They have no choice but to fight – they are not presented with a menu of choices to select from.
Gallingly, the senator added:
“War visits particular suffering on women with the loss of their partners, homes, jobs, fathers, brothers, children and autonomy.”
Now let’s be clear: it’s no doubt awful to lose one’s relative or friend in wartime. No sane person would suggest that women don’t suffer in war – everyone suffers in war. Women get killed and injured too. But how can we reasonably say that a woman losing her brother is more of a victim than the brother who actually got his head blown off by a sniper? How can we put a woman losing her job, or her “autonomy” on the same scale as a man being gutted with a bayonet to defend her?
She’s a victim, no doubt – but is she a bigger victim than the poor 18-year-old punter who got his legs actually blown off by an artillery shell, or blinded in a gunfight, or shot in the stomach and left to bleed to death on the side of the road? Why does she bear “particular suffering,” but not him?
Moreover, Sinn Féin Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile weighed in with equally ludicrous remarks.
Niall Ó Donnghaile with some Sinn Féin woke intersectionality claiming the war in Ukraine is an example of how war impacts women most, even though men have to stay and fight while women can flee to safety. He then goes on talk about indigenous and trans women for some reason. pic.twitter.com/D0XHBFoHmG
— JRD (@JRD0000) March 8, 2022
“At this point in time,” said Ó Donnghaile, “given events in Ukraine and globally, we know that issues like war, ecological destruction, increased energy prices and the cost of living, poverty, conflict and, in our own experience, the legacy of conflict all disproportionately impact upon women.”
He went on to say we must celebrate “indigenous women, women of colour, women with disabilities and trans women.” A virtue signalling smörgåsbord all around.
But again, how can one say “war…disproportionately impacts upon women,” and not the men and boys who are actually forced to fight and die?
You can very easily tell that they don’t believe in what they’re saying by doing a simple thought experiment.
If God forbid Ireland was attacked tomorrow by a large, powerful enemy army, and you gave most people the option to flee as refugees, or stand and fight on the frontlines, how many would be happy to start crawling under razor wire and shooting kalashnikovs at enemy troops?
The answer: almost none. Sure, there’d be a few, but the overwhelming majority of people, male and female, if they had the choice, would rather be out of there before you could say “surrender.” Which proves conclusively that we all know in our heart of hearts which is the harder job. Of course, fighting is harder than fleeing.
You wouldn’t want to be in either position – who would? Both are horrible. Both men and women are victims in wartime, and it’s generally distasteful to try and compare human suffering on some sort of scale. But if we’re going to go there, can we be real for a minute about the sacrifices that men make for society?
All we ever hear in this country is how men are violent, misogynistic pigs who need to take special courses to stop them from attacking others. An entire gender is slandered and smeared on almost a daily basis by politicians and the media. And the minute men do something heroic for their community, standing up to protect women and children and dying in the process, we’re told that women are the real victims in that situation. It’s like they can’t give men credit for anything at all.
Men and women should not be in competition, but let’s not constantly denigrate half the population and then never say so much as a kind word when they do something good either.