Not such a man’s world
From the Iron Lady to Blair’s Babes, women in politics have struggled to be taken seriously. Jennifer O’Mahony looks at the implications for 21st century politics
The pictures emerging from the Conservative party conference this month were all very similar. David Cameron and George Osborne with their glued on grins, and a couple of Samantha Cameron looking bashful. The photo of William Hague, aged 16, speaking at his first conference was once again dug up and ridiculed. And then there was Theresa May.
Who would have thought a pair of leopardskin patterned wellies could cause such a fuss? “Tragic” was the word bandied around the most, but why was there no mention of what May had said during the conference that day? Or, in fact, the speeches of any other female?
There is now a fairly vocal minority of female politicians in Britain, but they are routinely ignored - or worse, subjected to derisive comments by balding, middle-aged male journalists, generally on their outfits, or in Jacqui Smith’s case, their cleavage. Theresa May’s shoes have had far more coverage than her views or MP responsibilities ever have.
What about Ken Clarke’s belly? David Miliband’s haircut? Nicholas Soames in general? The truth is that the media finds it difficult to simply accept female politicians as representatives of themselves and of the country.
There are, generally speaking, two cliches of female politicians: ruthless bitches or weak women. Hillary Clinton apparently falls under the first category. These women are unafraid of power, and that scares a lot of men. Articles describe Clinton as “ambitious” in an entirely negative way, and words such as “calculating” crop up all too often. It is surely naive to assume that any person running for the Presidency of the United States isn’t calculating. That is how elections are won. Clinton is well on her way to achieving the Democratic nomination; a far cry from reading out cookie recipes for the ‘Soccer Mom’ demographic her husband courted during his second campaign. The weak woman takes human form in Ruth Kelly. She was always accused of being a Blair loyalist to the point of having no opinion of her own, or criticised for being strongly Catholic (despite there being no material evidence that her religion impinged on her job in any way) and generally felt to be an annoyance who didn’t deserve to be in power. These stereotypes allow the public to safely categorise these women in their minds, reducing their achievements to: “She’s the one whose husband cheated on her, right?”
Another assumption women face is that they are only there to represent other women. Whilst women’s issues are obviously important, it seems strange when Patricia Hewitt, the former health secretary, or Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, were asked about issues that had nothing to do with their department, just because they were the appropriate gender. Women are expected to adhere to certain roles, even when they do make it to the upper echelons of government. Julia Heaton, Chairman (she doesn’t mind the ‘man’ as she finds any variation patronising) of the York Tories describes the way women are perceived when at conference and in Westminster: “People assume that any women around are assistants to MPs, wives and families of MPs, not there as politicians. When I did work experience in Parliament there were two women and one man. The women always showed guests around, and the man talked about the hardcore politics.”
What do women really bring to politics, and what are they changing? Heaton thinks that women are making politics “softer”. Not in the sense of making it less substantial, but rather making it easier to digest. The ‘90s are well and truly dead, and the work-life balance and paternity leave are hot topics. Is it any wonder that so many felt alienated by a political system consisting of a bear pit of antagonistic ex-public schoolboys? A softer politics could lead to a softer world, where logic and reason dominate. Harriet Harman and Jacqui Smith were said to support legislation to criminalise men who buy sex rather than the women who sell it. This is entirely logical, obviously the prostitute is not the only guilty party in the exchange. It is amazing that it has taken until 2007 for someone to think about enshrining this in law.
There is a sense of immense bravery surrounding many female politicians. Think of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was held under house arrest for 10 years in Burma; democratically elected by her people but unable to serve them, unable to see her family, but always smiling in photos, as though the knowledge that she is in the right is enough. Another example is Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. Deposed by a military coup and living in exile in Dubai for the last eight years, Bhutto finally returned to Pakistan last week despite the Taliban’s threat of death. She escaped unscathed from the promised attack, and in the press conference which preceded it, her daughter Bakhtwah simply said: “I am so proud of my mother”. These two women have a selfless dedication to their country which surely allows them to transcend their perceived traditional roles, and puts them above any criticism of being “too girly” for the job.
One woman who was never accused of being too girly, and who looms large in this debate, is Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher had to make herself almost sexless to counter any gender-based criticism; avoiding taking a stand on women’s issues and surrounding herself with men. She was the original alpha female, and TV show Spitting Image wasted no time in mocking her for this. However, the implication seemed to be that she was less of a woman because of this. For Heaton, her influence is undoubtedly a factor in her own politics. “Thatcher was about not being afraid as a woman to say exactly what you think, and exactly what you feel. She was never under pressure from anyone else to say what they wanted her to say.” This is undoubtedly true, but not necessarily considered positive by many women, who feel that femininity is a part of who they are. Today, politicians are using their womanliness as an election weapon. Clinton has been especially good at this. She commented, “The fact that I’m a woman and a mom is part of what I am.” Since then she has jumped 33% ahead of her closest rival, Barack Obama, in the polls.
The new generation of female politicians have overseen the revival of the NHS, the introduction of civil partnerships and massive improvements to schools. They have created greater equality, not just of gender, but also of race and sexual orientation. Long term change will be gradual, but groups such as Women to Win and energetic student political debate should ensure that the future for these women does not centre around leopard skin print footwear.
