Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has been the outstanding performer in Cabinet this year and will finish 2014 as Australia’s highest female office holder. She will also add Harper’s Bazaar Woman Of The Year to her list of achievements.
When news of the accolade became public across the weekend, not everyone was supportive of the decision. Her refusal to embrace the term feminism in the accompanying article in the magazine and her comment that women should “stop whingeing, get on with it, and prove them all wrong” was an issue for many.
Bishop has been widely criticised for her apparent lack of support for other women in parliament and she has stated her opposition to quotas often. She has had to wear a lot of the criticism for her solo female presence in Cabinet, as if she was responsible for keeping other women out.
I will admit that I cringed when I read her comments on feminism but the rest of the article offers an interesting insight into Bishop’s perspective. Like many women pioneers of her generation in male-dominated industries, there was no other way through the various glass ceilings than by merit. However, merit and quotas are not mutually exclusive, and that’s where the views of most feminists, myself included, differ from Bishop’s.
Bishop may not talk the walk on feminism, which but she does appear to be walking it – perhaps without realising that feminism for most people is just another word for gender equality. While female columnists particularly, but not exclusively, have been alarmed by her apparent “anti-sisterhood” comments, former Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja has called Bishop out for the pro-sisterhood appointment of her as the Ambassador for Women and Children.
“Her decision to appoint me, despite our coming from different political parties, was a sign of her seriousness about the rights of women and girls,” Despoja was quoted as saying in Harper’s Bazaar.
Love her or hate her, agree with her views or not, it’s hard not to admire her incredible career achievements, and it’s for that reason that Harper’s Bazaar Editor Kellie Hush chose her as the magazine’s Woman Of The Year.
“Julie Bishop encapsulates what many Australians aspire to be: confident, strong, intelligent and a leader in their field. She has style and grace under pressure and has been a hot topic of conversation in the BAZAAR office all year,” Hush said.
Bishop’s strong performance on the foreign stage was also rewarded with a jump in popularity in the polls, according to last week’s Fairfax/Ipsos nationwide poll. Bishop polled the same percentage of votes for preferred Prime Minister as the Prime Minister himself. Bishop and Tony Abbott each polled 20% of votes, with Malcolm Turnbull leading the charge with 35% voter preference.
The poll caps off a remarkable year for the only woman in Abbott’s Cabinet, who has been widely praised for her handling of a number of foreign events, most notably her influencing skills in convincing Russia’s Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin to support Australia’s resolution on MH17. Resolution 2166 enabled a ceasefire that would allow the safe investigation of the tragedy to take place. Bishop’s popularity has jumped from 11% to 20% since then.
Julie Bishop is living her dream. She went into federal politics with the secret desire to be Foreign Minister and finally achieved that career goal last year after enduring a difficult tenure as shadow Treasurer. You don’t have to agree with her politics or personal beliefs to respect her career achievements. Any woman who reaches her personal career pinnacle should be celebrated and Bishop’s brilliant career is an inspiration for us all.
Photo credit: Jez Smith/Harper’s Bazaar