Joke Smit fought for equality, not for part-time work

In the article about role patterns between men and women, professor Tanja van der Lippe argues that thanks to the embrace of part-time work in the 1980s, which Joke Smit even championed, women were able to combine a job with household chores. This does not do justice to Joke Smit. Joke Smit argued for an equal division of tasks between men and women in the areas of work, housekeeping and parenting, with a corresponding working week of 25 hours for both. The fact that she considered equality between men and women important is also expressed in her view that men should also be allowed to join

Man Woman Society, the organization that stood at the beginning of the second wave of feminism and which she founded together with Hedy ‘d Ancona in 1968.

Margaret BrooksEindhoven

Emancipation

Interesting piece about emancipation in the Netherlands and the division in the household. Men and women both spend roughly 41 hours a week on the sum of paid work, household, informal care and voluntary work. Women appear to spend one and a half times as much time on household chores and twice as much on caring for the children. The conclusion therefore remains special: it is the women who have to work more in view of the glaring shortages on the labor market.

It is not clear who will take over the care in the household, the care for the children and the care for sick other loved ones. Additional vacancies? Because as soon as these tasks are not done by the parents themselves, it becomes paid work. Perhaps we should focus on the discussions about paid versus unpaid work and meaningful versus useless work. And then continue talking about emancipation and shortages on the labor market.

Lizette van GeeneEindhoven

Addicted and schizophrenic

My son, 37 years old, is a psychiatric patient. He has a dual diagnosis: schizophrenia and addiction. He constantly hears voices that he tries to exorcise with means. This in turn leads to even greater chaos in his head.

The policy of the GGZ is aimed at keeping him out of the clinic as much as possible. To quote the psychiatrist: ‘You get better at home.’

After admission to a forensic clinic ten years ago, a good result was achieved. He was on medication. Thanks to supervision, use was minimal. He was in a good mood and was able to handle relationships again.

But after a year and a half in a ‘protected’ housing, where supervision for this patient was not 24 hours, he was evicted. Twice I lodged an objection, but everything was ‘according to protocol’. Now, six years later, he had to leave his home because of a nuisance. He has been homeless for three months.

We live with a confused, schizophrenic adult man who keeps coming to us for help. Or to vent his anger on everyone. Life on the street is tough.

We are powerless, trapped in caring for him. He is, after all, my son. Neither he nor we can keep this up for long. My partner (79) and I (70) go from incident to incident. I have approached all possible authorities, but no one responds. ‘Oh, how sorry for you ma’am’, I keep hearing.

Institutions for these seriously ill, confused people have been abolished. This is the concern in a so-called ‘civilized country’. We have gradually come to see death as a merciful friend and solution.

D. Holtkamp and PH ToxopeusAlkmaar

OneLove

Get on the field with that OneLove band, and then after the toss out of arren weary, quickly turn the band around before the first whistle.

William AbbemaUtrecht

pin

The Ukrainians have been fighting against a great power for almost a year, under immense hardship. Chinese dare to take to the streets and demonstrate against Xi Jinping and an all-powerful Communist Party. And what is the KNVB doing to make its voice heard against a completely derailed football association? They wear a pin. Shame on us.

Rich BrewerAmsterdam

Happy with Sander

How wonderful that yesterday morning all my unpublished pieces in the newspaper were made up in one go by Sander Schimmelpenninck.

Ben HolwerdaGroningen

Isala

I read with interest the article about the troubles at the Isala hospital. It remained unclear what the male/female ratio was among the cardiologists who went wrong. Am I way off the mark if I assume that it only concerns male cardiologists?

Mike Hulshof, Giethoorn

To build

No houses can be built in the Netherlands at the moment because of the nitrogen. How is it possible that one holiday bungalow park after the other is currently being built, even in nature reserves? Crazy for words, right?

Arnold SmithLochem

LTO

You can complain to the government if you have to consult with an LTO chairman who still believes that the Netherlands is ‘agricultural country’, as he put it yesterday in Buitenhof.

Peter DessensArnhem

LTO (2)

In the article about how Parkinson’s is caused by pesticides, LTO gives a response at the end. ‘This assessment must remain based on science and not on emotions and conjecture.’ A crystal-clear conclusion that LTO may also be able to use in other areas. For example, regarding nitrogen, where it is not institutes for food safety and crop protection that deserve confidence, but for example RIVM and the Council for the Living Environment.

Bert LambVeenendaal

Orban

Viktor Orbán blocks an 18 billion euro aid program to Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia because the EU does not transfer money to Hungary because of corruption there. Orban is holding the EU hostage. To prevent this, the other Member States could jointly guarantee the aid program and sanctions package. This means that Orban is getting this blackmail out of his hands and he doesn’t get a chance to frustrate essential aid to Ukraine and to play nice weather with our money in Hungary.

Hans VermeijerNijmegen