Intersolar, how about gender equality?
12. June 2011 By: Simon Rolland
Of all my years coming to Intersolar, I never cease to be disappointed at the limited number of women actually doing business. Are women in the PV industry only good for distributing flyers, handing out drinks and smiles?
Were the past 30 years of hard-won victories for women’s rights and gender equality ignored by the whole energy sector or just the PV industry in particular?
Call me naive, but I always saw renewable energy professionals as champions for progress and the future leaders of a new form of social contract. If this is more than an illusion, it’s not visible at Intersolar. At several moments during these three days, I felt I was at an Auto Show.
The origins of this exciting PV adventure, based on the dreams of a group of hippies working together (and in equality) for a better, greener, freer world, have somehow been left behind in the gold rush.
At Intersolar, the remains of this utopian society are the girls so at ease with their own bodies, they comfortably walk around a busy trade fair with their upper half only covered in body paint.
One of my biggest wishes for the future of this business is that decision-makers realise that a sound, progressive sector must go beyond pure environmental aspects and include a commitment towards gender equality, diversity and other key social issues. Just like our “founding fathers” dreamt of.
No comments have been submitted yet. Why not login or register and be the first?