Every year Ellen Goodman, one of my favorite columnists and probably the most courteous and "soft spoken" popular columnist, does a column on the "Equal Rites Awards", listing particularly egregious incidents of male behavior towards women.

The last incident in this year's awards is as follows:
"Finally, we give The Male In-Security Award to the airport guard who searched Margaret Jackson and came across highly detailed designs of an airplane in her briefcase. He found it easier to believe she was a terrorist than a corporate head. As she wrote him later, "Dear Bill, this is from the chairman of Qantas, who is a woman." Here's to what they call the New Normal. "

Here's the link to the entire column: Goodman

By Kate on Sunday, September 3, 2006 - 11:12 pm:

Welllll, I'm more concerned about airline safety than any setback in women's rights here in America. I have no problem with this guy being suspicious of highly detailed designs of an airliner in a briefcase. The article does not detail what exactly this guard did or said, so it's entirely possible she was just briefly detained until it was straightened out and proven who she was. And that, in my opinion, is the right thing to do.

By Hol on Monday, September 4, 2006 - 12:11 am:

I have to agree with you, Kate.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Monday, September 4, 2006 - 02:29 am:

I agree Kate and Hol but I think you are missing the point that Ginny is trying to make. She isn't making reference to the terrorist threat and increased security. She is making reference the the fact that the guard likely didn't believe a woman could be the chairman of Qantas and that she would have no business with the prints unless she was a terrorist. Basically that women are to mindless to hold that kind of position. I am sure she had her credentials on her and was easily verified. The point of sorts in the article is that women in this day and age of equal rights still are not seen as equals by some.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, September 4, 2006 - 08:32 am:

All of those "awards" make me roll my eyes. Good grief!

By Kate on Monday, September 4, 2006 - 11:13 am:

Well, quite frankly, if that's the point then I think Goodman missed the mark. This security guard actually BOOSTED equality in my opinion, by giving this woman credit enough to blow up an airplane just as well as a male terrorist....

He did his job. His job is to be highly suspicious of ANYone carrying suspicious papers/objects. I wish he worked at my airport! Let's say she WAS a terrorist...of COURSE she's going to try and say she has a legitimate reason to be carrying airplane designs! It's security's job to be suspicious until she can be cleared beyond a shadow of a doubt. If a chairMAN of an airline company had been detained like this, not an eyebrow would have been raised. Hmmm....maybe the men ought to be crying foul....

By Reds9298 on Monday, September 4, 2006 - 03:00 pm:

Ditto Kate.

By Ginny~moderator on Monday, September 4, 2006 - 03:08 pm:

Here are more details, from CNN:
CNN

Some quotes:

"The guy said 'Why have you got all of this?'," she said.

"And I said, 'I'm the chairman of an airline. I'm the chairman of Qantas'. And this black guy, who was, like, eight foot tall, said, 'But you're a woman'."

After proving her identity, Jackson produced paper with her letterhead on it and wrote a note to the guard, whose name was Bill."

The point, indeed, is that the security guard doubted that Margaret Jackson could be head of an airline because she is a woman.

Yes, airport security guards should double-check anyone who has airplane plans in a briefcase. And yes, she was only briefly detained until she could prove her identity and status as an airline CEO - also appropriate. But would the guard have said to a man "But you're a man."?

The point is not that security detained her until she could prove her right to have airplane plans in her briefcase, but that the security guard questioned her statement that she is CEO of an airline not because she hadn't proved it (which anyone carrying airplane plans should be expected to do) but because she was a woman.

Oh, and Ms. Jackson didn't tell the story because she personally was annoyed. She told it to explain airport security to a media conference in Beijing.