My article in yesterday’s Fairfax press exposing the sexual vilification of Julia Gillard, Australia’s first female prime minister, and asking why MPs and journalists have kept silent about his for so long? Read article here. This article is an excerpt from a longer speech on this subject which I delivered at the University of Newcastle on Friday 31 August and which will available online very soon.
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ARTICLES, SPEECHES, NEWSAuto Draft6 comments to Deafening silence around sexual vilification of Australia’s first female prime minister |
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It is revealing and informative that when the Prime Minister is attacked by the progressive side of politics on such issues as the bizarre stance on same-sex marriage, the commitment to the abysmal military campaign in Afghanistan, support of the two tiered schooling system (“I’ve never looked at a big independent school in an established suburb and thought: ‘That’s not fair.’) and out-bidding the opposition on who can be ‘toughest’ on asylum seekers, it is the policy and the underlying politics that are attacked.
When it is something like the price on carbon or the tax on mining super-profits, the shills and political stooges on behalf of corporate greed cannot seem to help but reveal their inherent viciousness, bigotry, and misogyny in their criticism of the Prime Minister. Perhaps we should actually be thankful for that and hope that it engages a few more logic-cogs in the minds of the electorate.
Mary Ann’s comments are a pretty good example of the double standards at work and also shows an appalling gullibility when it comes to accepting the material produced by the anti-Gillard folk.
Firstly, Ms Gillard took the Leadership in the time honored tradition of Aussie politics. Practiced by all parties and nicely explained by Bob Hawke who quoted his own rise to power as an example.
The so called “Union Misdeeds” has been recycled by chaps like Pickering and is comprehensively dealt with every time it is recycled. How folk can keep falling for it every cycle is quite amazing. Happily now “ordinary Australians” are realising just how discredited this line is.
Then we see a very brave reference to Peter Slipper. The more this is bought up the more suspect it looks. National Party interference is deeply embedded in this one and it looks increasingly like a “fit up”.
The Craig Thompson affair refers to matters outside his Parliamentary role and that, too, has a long way to travel. It is proceeding through the system as it should.
So the highlights that this comment is based on have started out badly but apparently bringing up a lot of rubbish is proof?
Then we get the sexist comment that the PM is not allowed to swill a beer as the blokes are allowed to. Hmm. Sounds like double standards to me.
It rather puts the lie to being “all for female equality”.
Thankfully the PM is dealing with all this sexist rubbish and blazing a trail for women which kind of kills the other complaint about doing nothing for women.
Hopefully Ms Gillard will help educate those struggling with the concept of a female PM to mature a bit.
Thanks for popping in to Life Matters, Ms Summers. I hadn’t know you had had a crack at the disgraceful behavior until I heard the promo on RN Breaky.
Anne- Thank you so much for drawing attention in your excellent speech to the appalling way the PM is treated in various media and which is not based on politics, but because she is a woman, she is unmarried and does not have children.
You make the essential point “No male CEO of Australia has ever been subjected to the same treatment”.
It is time for every workplace on Australia inc federal parliament to stop the unfair and unequal treatment of the PM, and all women based on gender.
As a woman lawyer born in the 1960s I sincerely hope that when my six year old daughter says she is interested in pursuing the law or politics as a career that I can say to her “Once upon a time…”
Our current PM, like the current President of the USA, is by her very success an offence to sexists, just as Obama is to racists. Neither leader is above criticism, however our first female PM is a target for people who are, perhaps some without realising it, unreconstructed sexists. It also reveals the deep and ancient stain of sexism in our psyche, our society, and in our culture. Both racism and sexism arise out of deep fears and phobias passed down through the generations and manipulated by those seeking to maintain the status quo. PM Gillard is a brave human to take on the leadership of the Labour Government and a brave woman to shun traditional “ideal” of motherhood courtesy of a husband who provides material security and status. Perhaps the PM and her partner could choose to tackle head on the fears and motives of the sexists who attack her. This would probably not help her politically, and may even bring more sexism out of the woodwork, however it would strengthen those women and men who face sexism in their careers and daily lives.
In answer to Mary Ann,
1. The Labour Party preferred Julia Gillard as leader over Kevin Rudd, because Ms Gillard is judged by them to be better at leading her party – although it was rude of Labour not to allow the Australian people to choose.
2. Opposition muck-rakers aided by complicit media fabricated the Peter Slipper story. Craig Thompson’s behaviour is not excusable, but you can bet plenty of Liberal operatives have done worse. It is high time the media examined the opposition with the same severity it uses on the government.
Julia Gillard is a highly competent Prime Minister and a truly excellent woman and Australians should be grateful for her leadership. Personally, I do not read her as ‘talking down’ to people. She does attempt to explain complex policy to broad numbers of people who are perhaps not following closely, but are content to view her as a ‘school ma’am’ or ‘bad mummy’.
Julia Gillard faces enormous pressure in leading our nation. We have a two party system and currently her team has the ball. I can understand that she is unpopular with the opposing team, just as John Howard was, but she should not be assaulted by disgusting sexists like Larry Pickering and his ilk. Sexism is not okay, neither are racism, death threats or other hate speech.
Finally … I don’t understand your objection to Ms Gillard ‘swilling’ beer in a UK pub. Perhaps this is not what a lady is taught at finishing school nor what is expected of a queen or princess, but this is a democracy – Julia Gillard is one of us and she is entitled to drink beer at any pub in the Commonwealth, and I say that even though I am a tee-totaller.
re PM and rights at work–
In the case of Ms Gillard- her position has respect but she doesn’t. One commands respect and trust; not gains respect or trust by demand.
Ms Gillard has failed because she has an appalling habit of speaking down to people continually.She is not trusted because of her 1.treatment of Kevin Rudd 2.Not coming clean about various misdeeds of the Unions which concern her,P Slipper and C Thompson to begin with.There is too much information available for all this to be a fabriction and the PM has and is doing nothing to allay the suspicions of ordinary Australians.
Ms Gillard needs to lift her game. She has done nothing for the cause of women. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw TV footage of her swilling beer from a bottle in a pub in UK for instance– her behaviour is not that of a statesperson; a big dose of decorum would go down well.
I am all for women’s equality and have been employed in a traditionally male role myself where I was gradually accepted,trusted and successful; yes, didn’t happen overnight but it did happen. I never tried to be ‘one of the boys’ and always maintained direction and honesty-
Maryann