Council receives 'women training' after boost in female numbers

Staff at a City Hall in Austin have been criticised for holding a training session on how to deal with a female-dominated council after decades of rule by men.

The city's mayor has condemned the talk, saying he was unaware that it would be taking place. "I was shocked to learn of this training," Steve Adler told the Texas Tribune. "I'm looking into this matter, as this kind of misguided 'training' does not represent Austin and its inclusive values."

One of the speakers was Jonathan Allen, a former city manager from Florida who had recently been fired from his job. He said it was a "serious error" to treat women like men and compared dealing with women to talking to his 11-year old daughter who asks lots of questions. "My daughter taught me the importance of being patient [with female council members]", he said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Allen also argued that women are less concerned with fiscal consequences than man. When a woman is presented with facts and figures they will say: "'Mr Manager, I don't want to hear about the financial argument,'" he said.

Emily Amanatullah, who studies gender issues and is an assistant professor of management at the University of Texas, called the talk archaic. "It does reek of old norms and often it's called benevolent sexism – they are not putting women down, but they are in a way," she told the Austin American Statesman. "[It's] like 'the women are usually in the kitchen, how do we deal with them now that they have power'".

In response to the training session, Salon's Katie McDonough has attempted to delve into the "masculine mystique" with her own tongue-in-cheek guide to working with men.

Elle magazine has also created their own list of tips on how to work with women. Their advice includes: "Everyone knows that women cannot operate heavy machinery. It is too dangerous. Calculators are safe, though. If only we knew how to use them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯."