In his maiden address to Parliament, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat appropriated the prison truancy sting as an opportunity to “change working practices which are stifling job creation and opportunities for women. There is a masculine attitude in government departments and we want to eradicate it”.

This is a baffling statement. Is Dr Muscat hating on himself? He is, after all, a man, as is the majority of Cabinet, Parliament, and the country now under his direction. It is unfortunate that a Labour party which is so open-minded about the LGBT community and transgender individuals’ right to marry should manifest such self-loathing.

It also dampens one’s spirits that this anti-male bias is accepted so meekly and “as just the way things are”. Had he said he wanted to eradicate the “feminine attitude” (which is not as sweet and perfumed as some would have you believe), he would surely have been reviled as sexist and antediluvian, so why the double standard?

Artificial “gender equality” quotas are keeping competent men out of jobs they are eminently qualified for. Some years ago they even kept high court justice Joseph D. Camilleri out of the European Court of Human Rights merely because the Council of Europe wanted Malta to nominate a woman to the post. It seems that western women only want equal treatment at their discretion, and that they are nowhere to be found when you need to lay three miles of fresh tarmac in the baking sun.

If ladies really want respect and equality, they should not be allowed to cherry-pick the rights they get to enjoy without also assuming the various hardships men are forced to endure. It is galling that you never hear feminists clamouring for more dangerous jobs on minimum wage, a fair chance to die for their country on the front lines, equality in divorce court, and no more presidential pardons for women who deny fathers access to their own children.

Rebel against nature at your own risk.