The real story about sexism and Belinda Stronach...

A few harsh words about Belinda and there are huge cries about sexism. Barbara Kay, in today's National Post, has a great op-ed about the real sexism behind Belinda.

Had Belinda been Frank Stronach's son, she would have been groomed for the succession. Instead, she received a symbolic pass of the curry comb. A son would have acquired a degree in engineering or automotive design and an MBA, not a year at business school. His father would have treated him as a peer -- a real heir, not a paper one.

How many men would have been made CEO, as Belinda was in 2001 to position her for a political future, without scrutiny of his actual business acumen and past management skills? How many would have submitted to being publicly packaged, like Belinda, as a figurehead, with a father making it clear he was still in command in order to reassure investors that the new title was purely symbolic?

Would any man never before active in politics be taken seriously as a Conservative leadership candidate? Would any man with genuine leadership ambitions have shrunk from public debates? Would any man of mediocre intellect, however wealthy, have been considered a worthy leadership contender with no French, no rhetorical skills, and no history of consequential leadership or meaningful civic service? No, no and no.

Ouch!