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The refuse collection industry has been coming under intense pressure in recent weeks over its problematic lack of female role models.
Feminists cite the lack of female representation as a clear and present sign of the oppression wrought down from every angle of the patriarchy.
Among those leading the fight for better representation of women in the refuse collection industry is Rebekah.
She explained. “At the age of seven I announced to my parents that I wanted to be a bin lady when I grew up.
“I’ll never forget the disappointment I saw in their eyes that day, but that was the patriarchy talking.
“It’s a misconception that feminists are fixated on male-dominated professions of high-standing, such as architecture or scientific research, while ignoring low status jobs and ignoring the plight of people who suffer proper discrimination.
“We’re campaigning to open up dirty and unpopular industries to women, to reach our overall goal of true equality. If we can carry a backpack and fight on the front line in the army, then we’re definitely strong enough to carry bins and cope with the associated higher risk of workplace injury or death normally enjoyed only by men.”
But refuse collection is just another area where women are problematically marginalised. The situation in the sewage treatment and maggot farming industries is even more unfair, where nearly 100 per cent of workers are male.
“What these companies are implicitly saying is that women are not good enough for refuse collecting, not even good enough for sewage treatment.”
However, industry opinion about the prospect of a greater female presence is mixed.
Simon Williams of the National Sewage and Refuse Collection Union told us: “Some of our members have expressed concerns about the prospect of being forced to clean up their swearing and having to take down posters of naked women, in order to accommodate women in their workplace.
“That said, some of our members would certainly welcome greater participation from females, especially if there’s a realistic prospect of them getting their tits out.”
