The Shrew Who Won't be Tamed

Julia Gillard has become Australia’s first female Deputy Prime Minister – that’s an extraordinary achievement in such a ‘blokey’ culture and it’s been no easy ride.

Like dozens of women in high office before her, she’s been subjected to rampant sexism by her political opponents and competitors along with sexual stereotyping by the media. Her relationships and appearance are under constant scrutiny.She’s an inspiration to millions of women but her story is also an illustration of how much further Australia has to travel to reach equality between the sexes.

Questions have been raised about her sexuality – she was single for some time and doesn’t have children, you see. And just last year, John Howard’s chief ‘head-kicker’ the ‘colourful thug’ Senator Bill Heffernan condemned Julia Gillard, saying she wasn’t fit to comment on family issues because she was “deliberately barren”. That comment was as shocking as it was ignorant – even coming from a man as base as Heffernan. A week later he begrudgingly apologised but took the opportunity to re-offend. He is a dinosaur, yes, but his species is far from extinct. Others have described her as a “shrew” and a “fishwife”, alluding to her broad Australian accent.

And it’s not an exclusively male dirt-throwing competition. Women are guilty too of stereotyping Ms Gillard with the media and dinner party conversation awash with complaints about her hairstyle, her dress sense and her relationship status. Is this because some women are still so desirous of male approval and embarrassed about their own lack of progress that they seek to undermine and ridicule a woman who has broken through the glass ceiling? This is bitchiness at its most purile.

Now Julia Gillard has been given the biggest ministerial workload in living memory – Industrial Relations and Education - the new government’s two biggest policy priorities. The fact that Kevin Rudd felt obliged to defend her competence to handle such a workload rankled a little but it also made me wonder whether a man would have to work so hard in the second top job. Is this a governmental reflection of the unfair distribution of labour in the home along gender lines? Immediately I had this thought, I chastised myself for drawing on domestic analogies to analyse the situation but the symbolism does resonate. It’s just not enough for women to prove they are equal to men - they must make a case for superiority to be treated with equality and respect.

And if Julia Gillard does stumble under such an enormous workload, the knives will be out while the “If you can’t handle the heat get out of the kitchen” headlines are likely to underline the sexist discourse.

I’m really impressed with our new Deputy Prime Minister – on top of intelligence, competence and wit, she displayed dignity and humility on election night that seemed genuine. Such characteristics may be perceived as weaknesses in our masculinist society but they’re evidence she’s not afraid to be a woman and a strong leader concurrently and that’s the stuff of real feminist role models. She deserves cheering, not ridicule.

Note: Yes, the headline to this post is deliberately ironic