When we discuss gender in politics we focus a lot on women. But given women account for just under a quarter of all federal politicians, we’re better off discussing the men – and the continued role of the boys club.
In analysing what led to our first female prime minister’s demise, we can forget that parliament has always been a boys club. It is a schoolyard of men who hurl insults in public and private at one another. Immaturity at its best.
The undue focus on our women parliamentarians disagreeing with each other distracts from the real issues. Following a spat between the Coalition’s Sophie Mirabella and Labor’s Tanya Plibersek on Q&A Monday night, the ABC and The Project ran special stories highlighting the argument. Have we forgotten they’re political opponents? Are we too precious to see women disagree? It seems as though the expectation is for women in power to agree with each other, when we know that diverse views are healthy and important for our democracy.
And when Senator Michaelia Cash brazenly expected Senator Penny Wong should have supported Julia Gillard in last week’s leadership challenge due to the ‘sisterhood’, it further suggested that women should band together. Supporting each other is fine, but we don’t need to stand with each other to our detriment. The perverse nature of the political sisterhood is concerning – rejecting individualism for the sake of a gender, something that we don’t expect from men. Such views are affecting the success of women’s political leadership. The competent women of our parliament are more than capable of making their own minds up, irrespective of gender.
It seems we’re still grappling with certain expectations on women: act in a certain manner, don’t disagree with each other, and remember you’re a role model to the next generation.
Meanwhile, men act in parliament, business and the wider society however they want and get away with it. Ray Hadley, Alan Jones and a bevy of politicians and commentators spring to mind. We deserve better.
As Lieutenant-General David Morrison noted, “The standard you walk past is the standard you accept”. Sadly, the boys club is held to a weak standard while we ask women of all political stripes to act as a team. Not only does that defy logic and rationality, it tells the girls of tomorrow to ‘act together, you’re the only support you have’ while the boys get a completely different message. I know that’s not the society I want to see.