According to Julia Gillard, successful women still have only two choices when it comes to how they’re perceived: to be viewed as a “good woman” or a “bad woman”.
They’re stereotypes that were first outlined by Anne Summers in her 1975 book Damned Whores and Gods Police, but ones our former prime minister and first woman to hold the title believes still exist today.
And as a woman wielding significant power – especially in a complex minority government – Gillard believes she was never going to be seen as a ‘good woman’. “So I must be the bad woman, a scheming shrew, a heartless harridan or a lying bitch.”
These are words she writes in her political memoir My Story due to be launched this Friday by former governor general Quentin Bryce. In it, according to extracts published by The Age today, she questions whether she should have been clearer about the issue of sexism in politics earlier than when she made her famous misogyny speech in 2012. Indeed, she asks if she should have called out sexist comments published by the media at the beginning of press conferences. “Would it have made a difference or only started allegations of playing the gender wars earlier? Honestly I don’t know,” she writes.
However, she also suggests men could have done more to support her – especially those outside of the political sphere.
“One thing that genuinely would have helped would have been for men beyond the world of politics to name the sexism.”
This didn’t happen – at least not from those with a big enough platform to get heard. While we’re seeing more and more men step up to discuss the importance of gender equality in business – particularly in supporting gender diversity at all levels of leadership – calling out sexism confronting senior, visible women in power is not always high on the agenda. And we particularly can’t recall any instances of this happening during Gillard’s time as prime minister.
According to The Age political editor Michael Gordon, most of Gillard’s 500-page tome is devoted to “policy battles”. However the first section of the book discusses the three factors she believes shaped her time as prime minister – including Labor instability, working in a minority government and gender. The book was provided to only a handful of journalists to preview before its official launch this week.
In an interview with Gordon, Gillard said she hopes that businessmen will step up to call out any sexism that may be thrown the way of future female leaders – particularly at Hillary Clinton if she runs for the US presidency.
So will life for Australia’s next female prime minister be any “easier:, as Gillard has previously stated she expects? That may depend on whether we can finally move past the “good” or “bad” woman stereotypes. And that’s something women can’t do alone.
And will you be reading My Story? Let us know below.