Julia Gillard has reflected on her own time as Australia’s first female Prime Minister in a plea to Americans to call out sexism in the lead up to the US presidential election.
Gillard made the call in a piece penned for the New York Times, published as Hillary Clinton was formally named the Democratic nominee for the race, at the National Democratic Convention yesterday.
Gillard said she’s often asked for advice by young women interested in politics, and always tells them that “passion and purpose” are what sustains one through the rigors of politics. It’s about knowing what you want to achieve for your nation, then building a “sense of self” that’s can survive the ugly comments that come up.
While Gillard says Clinton needs no advice on developing a sense of self, nor is Gillard “egotistical” enough to believe that a woman qualified to be a presidential candidate needs her advice on policy, she said Clinton does need support in calling out sexism in the world.
“Mrs Clinton should not have to deal with this alone. Every Democrat, every Republican, every person who believes that women and men are equal should call out any sexism,” she writes.
Gillard shared her experiences of creating the carbon tax, and then opposition leader Tony Abbott standing in a front of a sign referring to her as a bitch. She also described how a certain radio talkshow host said she should be “put in a bag and dropped in the sea.”
“I have often reflected how powerful it would have been if, at that moment, a male business leader, especially one who opposed my policies, said “I may not support the prime minister politically, but Australia must not conduct its democratic debates this way.”
And as we know – as Gillard shared in this piece – that never happened.
Instead, Gillard said young women are now not always asking her for advice but rather telling her that having seen how she was treated, they’ve decided a career in politics is not for them. “I always try to talk them out of this position. Sometimes I succeed.”
So in 2016, as Clinton inevitably faces yet more sexism in the lead up the presidential elections – especially up against Republican candidate Donald Trump – Gillard said she hopes there will be “many brave voices” speaking up about it. So do we.
