Politicians, sportspeople, corporations beware. If you’ve made sexist remarks in a public forum this year your comments are about to be “celebrated” by 400 women (and a few brave men).
The 22nd Annual ‘Ernie’ Awards for sexist behaviour are being held at NSW Parliament House in Sydney on Wednesday night, one of the only award ceremonies in the world where the winners would probably prefer not to be nominated at all. Former politician and self-described international busybody Meredith Burgmann created the Ernies when she was still in parliament in 1993. The awards are named after Ernie Ecob, a former trade union official, who once claimed that women only wanted to work in shearing sheds “for the sex”.
When Ecob announced his resignation in 1993, Burgmann and union official Vicki Telfer decided they should have a ladies’ lunch to celebrate. Thus the Ernies were born, and over the past 21 years have grown from an informal lunch to a gala ceremony of “booze and boos” complete with tacky trophies.
“The Ernies are comprised of 400 women who find the strength in themselves to laugh at the very thing that hurts the most – misogyny,” researcher Auna Jornayvaz told me. Jornayvaz is a former US magazine editor, who has moved to Sydney to study feminist issues. She says there is nothing like the Ernies anywhere else in the world. “The Ernies are not only unique to Australia, but from a sociological perspective they’re unique in general. The 22 years of data they’ve collected illustrate (how) deeply embedded misogyny is a reflection of a systematic cultural breakdown.”
I asked Meredith Burgmann why the Ernies remain predominantly a female affair, if the purpose is to highlight offensive remarks mostly made by men. “Oh men are welcome, everybody’s welcome. We simply stipulate that the dress code is a nice frock!”
This year’s dress code is in fact suffragette and will be a celebration of 120 years since women received voting rights in South Australia.
The winners of the awards, which include “The Warney” for sexist remarks made by an athlete, “The Clinton” for repeat offenders and the “Gold Ernie” for the year’s worst remark, will be decided by the audience’s boos. “Sometimes we have to have a boo-off (to decide the winner) if the highly trained boo monitors can’t decide who has booed and hissed the most,” said Burgmann.
There’s also “The Elaine” named after Fred Nile’s deceased wife Elaine Nile, for women who say things which hurt the sisterhood. Past winners of that award include Blanche d’Alpuget, Miranda Devine and even NSW Minister for Women Pru Goward.
So – have things got better or worse in the awards’ 22-year history?
“I thought things had got better until 2012 and 2013…I think they were the worst years I have ever known,” reflected Burgmann on Julia Gillard’s years as Prime Minister. “Having a woman in power, it somehow gave permission for people to be sexist again.” This year Clive Palmer and his Palmer United Party have received several nominations. They’re up against Education Minister Christopher Pyne, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Festival of Dangerous Ideas for advertising a talk titled “Honour Killings are Morally Justified.”
It’s up to the boos on the night to decide whose name goes up on the Dishonour Board. “Our aim is to keep them (misogynists) nervous. You can’t win an Ernie for trying.” Let the booing begin.