Feminism, ignorance, and the Prime Minister for Women
Tony Abbott is far from being the right person to be the self-appointed Minister for Women, writes, Dean Laplonge. Having three daughters – touted by the Prime Minister as giving him the credentials for the role – is hardly the best qualification.
Tony Abbott is not just the Prime Minister of Australia; he is also the self-appointed Prime Minister for Women. This makes him responsible for making decisions and providing national leadership on issues that affect millions of women across Australia. Of all his responsibilities in government and as the Prime Minister, this is the one he is least qualified to fulfil.
The problem isn’t that he’s a man. Within some feminist groups and Women’s Studies departments there continues to be resistance to men working on gender issues, particularly when “gender” actually stands for “women”.
Studies in masculinity have become more popular over the past few decades, but this is still a fairly small field of study. The vast majority of people who occupy academic positions in Gender Studies or Women’s Studies are women. In the workplace, it’s rare to find a diversity or equal opportunities officer who is male. This is a rather unfortunate outcome of feminism’s progress in academia and the workplace.
When Abbott announced he would assume the role of Minister for Women, this could have signalled a step forward. The title of Abbott’s portfolio emphasises women, but the Office is also responsible for giving advice and support about policies “that will provide positive benefits for women and all Australians”. Including men in this portfolio would help extend the definition of “gender” as it is otherwise understood in government policies. Men are, after all, also gendered. There’s no evidence to suggest, however, that Abbott understands this.
The continuing priorities of the Office for Women are to help women get better careers and to keep women safe. These are stock-standard foci for such an Office. Perhaps this is why the Office appealed to Abbott. Providing assistance to women suits his understanding of what feminism is. By continuing to see women as weak and in need of support, he can aim to be their patriarchal saviour. He can assume the role of their provider and protector.
But Abbott doesn’t have a degree in women’s studies. To my knowledge, he has never even taken a course on gender. He does not appear to have read such seminal feminist texts as Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949), or Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble (1999). The ideas that are explored in these and many more works about gender do not inform his ideas about women (or men).
Having daughters certainly doesn’t qualify him to hold a national public office that aims to speak on behalf of all women. This would be like saying I am qualified to run the national economy because I have a bank account.
If Abbott had expert knowledge about gender, he would be analysing how policies aimed at helping women might also have the contradictory effect of being paternalistic towards women. He would be asking questions about how it is that men seem to do better and more often avoid being harmed in society. He would be investigating the role of institutions in the construction and normalisation of gender. He would be interested in representations of gender, discourses of gender, gender identities, and gender practices.
This is all Gender Studies 101. And it’s time we started to demand that any Minster for Women know this stuff.
Dean Laplonge is a cultural theorist whose research and consulting work explores the relationship between culture and everyday practices. He is the author of GenderImpacts (https://genderimpacts.wordpress.com), a blog which explores the impacts of gender on the way we think and behave. He is also the Director of the cultural research company Factive (www.factive.com.au) and an Adjunct senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales.
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Annie B
Return to home pagewhat else would you expect from a man with a boxing glove in his head
Well I still think the Minister for Women should be a woman.
Well put
ABCTV’s Nationwide program on 20 March 1979.
The Fraser Government should immediately slash the $550 million provided to universities in annual funding, Abbott says, to force left wing lecturers to abandon their flights of fancy and get back to basics.
“Should they teach what is socially useful or would they be able to continue as they have done and waste money on such things as the politics of lesbianism?” the future opposition leader asks.
Abbott was no stranger to the airwaves in his uni days, granting an interview to the University of New England radio station 2UNE, the audio of which emerged last year. In a precursor to the Voluntary Student Unionism wars, Abbott says leftist special interest groups like women, Aboriginals, homosexuals and immigrants were unrepresentative of the broader student body.
If Rabid had brains, I’d say he took on the role of Minister for Women, as a smug slap in the faces of every woman or girl, who dare to speak out against his paternalistic views of the world.
But since he does not have any brains, it is my considered opinion that he is so arrogant that he wouldn’t question the possibility that he was not qualified for the role.
Since it is beyond Rabid to see the irony of his unsuitability, it is incumbent upon his female parasites around him, including his wife, his daughters, his mother, Peta “Cruella de Vil” Credlin, Michaelia Cash, Julie Bishop, Bronwyn Bishop, etc, etc, to whisper gently but forcefully, in his flappy ears.
I debate ‘he’s a man’. A man stands on his own 2 feet, stands by his decisions, is honest, has integrity, doesn’t strike out when things go wrong…not only that a real man doesn’t lay down to appease his master…dogs do that!
“When Abbott announced he would assume the role of Minister for Women, this could have signalled a step forward. ” You have far more faith in the man than I do. I only ever saw it a thumb to the nose at Julia Gillard and anybody who supported her in her speech against his misogyny.
And he’s been about as useful in the role as I expected.
Putting the homophobic, sexist and supremely misogynistic, Abbott, in charge of Women’s Affairs is like putting Hitler in charge of Jewish Health and Welfare! What a completely unconscionable and thoroughly scornful and demeaning farce. Such is Abbott’s contempt for women, he smugly appointed himself as Minister for Women’s Affairs as a sick and twisted joke .. this self appointment would APPEAL to Abbott’s twisted, vile and thoroughly vindictive sense of sarcastic irony. You can see him chuckling away to himself behind closed doors basking in his venomous self appointment knowing full well that he would be determined to do absolutely ZERO to benefit the sex that HE, himself, has always declared are best kept to the kitchen, or happily doing the ironing or in a virginal state until they are married!
Here is the self appointed Minister for Women, the very SAME mongrel who was an ignominious sexist thug and bully during his notorious days as a despised student on campus at Sydney University! A swaggering, arrogant, mediocre student who proved to be a despicable coward, punching the wall on either side of Barbara Ramjan’s face because she beat him, and beat him soundly, to become a student representative. The ONLY students who could stand being in the despised presence of the hated Abbott, were a small band of despicable cowardly thugs who roamed the campus intimidating anyone who did not share their ultra right wing neoliberal view of the world! As usual, the spoilt, indulged and self entitled Abbott always had his mummy and daddy (a wealthy orthodontist) to come to his aid with a couple of QC Barrister’s in tow to defend his frequent aggressive acts of intimidation against other students (mostly women) on campus! Sadly, it is clearly evident, that absolutely NOTHING HAS CHANGED! This mindless, gormless and thoroughly corrupt mongrel is STILL a vile bully, STILL a despicable loathsome thug, STILL corrupt and self entitled and now leading the worst, most discredited and internationally despised government in the western world!
Now read all about him … our self appointed Sinister for Women … it’s like a Greek Tragedy. In this incomprehensibly evil government, we have a pure misogynist as the Minister for Women and after his murderous reign as Immigration Minister, we have a cold blooded misanthropic psychopath as the new Minister for Social Services, we have a whimpering hysterical moron as Education Minister and a filthy coal-driven, climate change denier and environmental VANDAL as Environmental Minister! It makes Dad’s Army look like the House of Lords!
http://www.news.com.au/national/holes-appear-in-tony-abbotts-uni-life/story-fncynjr2-1226602057790
Babyjewels, the way I read that comment was it could have been a step forward in the sense of having a man in the role, if he managed to do an effective job. I, like you, can’t really see any person with any familiarity with Abbott’s past actions and words having any confidence that the man could’ve done anything of value to truly advance legitimate gender issues in our society. If anything, it was pretty clear he’d either do nothing, or (as in most of his endeavours) do far more damage.
Salstarat….your comments are pure gold, thank you for verbalizing my thoughts. You should consider entering politics….I’m sure you have the ability to keep the bastards honest.
Why is there no minister for men? No-one even sees the blatant bigotry in our government and society. We have a minister for women We have an Ambassador for Women and girls but none for boys. Feminists moan about Abbott yet the government spends four times as much on women’s health than men’s health, even though men die years earlier. We have domestic violence campaigns which exclude any mention of male victims and no shelters or support offered to male victims. The government funds single mothers, women with children, provides paid parental leave for women.Men have almost no hope of winning custody of their own children and absolutely no reproductive rights. They are given far harsher sentences for committing the exact same crime as a woman. Men suicide at four times the rate of women. Lies like the suggestion that women are penalised in the workplace because they are women ie. the gender wage gap myth is still spoken about as if it is true.
And we are meant to swallow the myth that men in power means women’s needs are being overlooked.
Kaye Lee, from your link:
When it came to ‘political economy’, he was probably referring to Edward Lawrence (Ted) Wheelwright (1921–2007) who taught at Sydney University from 1952 until 1986. Ted Wheelwright was a vocal critic of the influence of transnational corporations in the politics of sovereign countries.
Wheelwright analysis all those years ago is still highly relevant today. His memory lives on via the Ted Wheelwright Memorial Lecture. In 2013 the speaker was political activist Susan George currently based in France who asserted:
Thank you, Salstarat! Thank you!! Brilliant.
Mark, that’s meant to be satirical, right?
Still… where’s the LOUD outrage in the wider community about this farce? Sadly the concepts “feminism” and gender equality have become unfashionable in today’s Australia. According to the general public, that battle was won decades ago… so what’s the problem?
I say this as the father of a 21yo daughter who is an avid, proud, informed liberal feminist… so THAT qualifies me to comment!!!
Linda, Salstarat sure has a way with words, and I also enjoy reading them 🙂
Thanks for the article Dean…….We need more Girl a Power in this country
A spokesperson/people who truly values women and what they bring to a society and an economy
is sadly lacking in this country, and as a result I don’t hold a lot of hope for my 9 year old daughter
And my two granddaughters living in an inequality free country.
Maintain The Rage…..Gough Whitlam was a man who valued and cared for Australian women and showed it.
He walked the talk, and improved women’s and kids lives, my mother probably owes her life to Gough,
He gave a helping hand to women in violent marriages to get out and saved their lives in the process..
Why?
Abbott doesn’t know much about anything except parroting IPA/neo-liberal nonsense. You expect him to be serious about women’s well-being? I think you may be disappointed.
😛
Glass half-full.
When the Minister for Women made the rhetorical statement that women did not have an absolute right to deny sexual access to their own bodies, he did at least add that a mans’ right to demand sex was not absolute either.
So, ladies, your self-appointed male representative does not think that men have the absolute right to rape, just that women should be limited in their right to say “no”.
mark,
“Men have…absolutely no reproductive rights” Men CAN wear a condom and men CAN’T get pregnant.
“no shelters or support offered to male victims” There are many shelters and support groups specifically for men.
http://www.melbourne.homeless.org.au/sydney.html
https://www.vinnies.org.au/page/Find_Help/NSW/Housing/Matthew_Talbot_Hostel/
“The government funds single mothers, women with children, provides paid parental leave for women.” They also fund single fathers, men with children, and provide paid paternity leave for men. I agree about custody issues and know of many heart-breaking cases.
“the gender wage gap myth is still spoken about as if it is true.”
The Agency calculates the national gender pay gap using Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Average Weekly Full-Time Earnings data (cat. No. 6302.0). The national gender pay gap is currently 17.1% and has hovered between 15% and 18% for the past two decades.
https://www.wgea.gov.au/learn/about-pay-equity
“Men suicide at four times the rate of women”. Feminists fought to have women enter the workforce and to help ease the burden of men being the provider. They have fought against gender stereotypes. They have fought against discrimination based not only on gender but on sexuality. Lifting people out of poverty and helping them rather than labelling them would be a good start.
Feminism does not advocate women’s rights at the expense of men’s.
When the Sinister for Women speaks about women, my eyes start to glaze over, I get a twitch in my lip, my legs start shaking, ohhhhhh if I could only kick the dick through the TV Screen,
I am sure these symptoms would be cured 🙂
…I feel a Double Dissolution, ‘cocktail’ with a totally bleedin’…very large REALITY CHECK ‘chaser’ my be in order…too
Y’all don’t know what it’s like, being male, middle-class and white,
Y’all don’t know what it’s like, being male, middle-class and white,
Y’all don’t know what it’s like, being male, middle-class and white,
Y’all don’t know what it’s like, being male, middle class and white.
It gets me real pissed off, it makes me wanna say,
It gets me real pissed off and it makes me wanna say,
It gets me real pissed off and it makes me wanna say,
F*ck!
<
Always wary when someone like "mark" throws this in :
".Men have almost no hope of winning custody of their own children ".
Mark J Mujica summed abbott up pretty well, for me. Short, sharp & to the point. Abbott has been over-praised by adoring parents because he is “the boy” – would bet the females gave way to him, as would be expected. Abbott family (dad wanted to avoid the war) were just rent-seeking “poms” taking advantage of free trips & education in Australia Then Jesuits groomed him with their nonsense. Macho man built up his muscles boxing , possibly for self-defence in the seminary showers? Mix it all up, add limited intelligence, instil obedience to older mentors, a sprinkling of thuggery & an expectation of being “forgiven anything” and you have……the perfect front man for big end of town and the worst mistake Australia has ever made ..as p.m.
I just love this bit:
“Having daughters certainly doesn’t qualify him to hold a national public office that aims to speak on behalf of all women. This would be like saying I am qualified to run the national economy because I have a bank account.”
I read you all till I lie down in a stupor of incoherence, mind numbed, voice dry, eyes empty, heart frozen in a moment of incredulity and despair.
The endless voice of recrimination for those who are stealing this country away.
Sad Days.
Cold nights.
Thank heavens for good company.
I agree with all that Salstarat has written. Well said.
Has anyone ever asked the father of the Robot Rarebit if he is proud of his son and his achievements? Recall master Abbott inferred Julia Gillard’s father died of shame. It would be fair to see if Abbott’s Dad has any feelings about his son’s enhanced capacities in mendacity, ignorance in economics and his willingness to tear down the fabric of Australian democracy to facilitate the affairs of transnational companies. We could also ask as to the origin of his lack of understanding for feminine economic and social desires. Our beloved leader hasn’t met his promises to our native Australians so how could you expect advancement or justice for the half of the community that is female. Roll on the time when he can be given the shove he deserves.
On suicide:
More women than men actually attempt suicide. Men are more likely to succeed in completing suicide than women, the means they use are generally more deadly.
Therefore, bandying around statistics that more men than women commit suicide is only showing a part of the story. This point is usually raised in conjunction with the idea that the ‘feminisation’ of the workforce is to blame.
Given that our society, worldwide, is still primarily patriarchal raises the question why do people, men AND women try to or succeed in taking their lives. No one ever states that women commit suicide because of the masculine nature of society. Apparently a patriarchy is considered acceptable but if steps towards equity are made by women, suddenly it is the fault of feminists. I am sure Mr Abbott, believes this – he is surrounded by women – a wife, 3 daughters and naturally considers himself knowledgeable.
http://menshealth.about.com/cs/mentalhealth/a/suicide.htm
The reasons for suicide are far more nuanced than the fault of any patriarchy or matriarchy.
The above (most common) factors apply eually to men and women. Also, just because more women survive suicide attempts this does not mean that such women go on to live happy and productive lives. Therefore, it simply makes sense to treat both men and women equally seriously – we all hurt, we all feel pain.
Suicide is not a competition.
Would our very competitively natured PM be even vaguely aware of this?
Salstarat;
So glad you did not hold back.
Thank you.
I am tired of this ‘men don’t get custody of their children’.
The law has been changed. It now starts at 50/50 access and if you are a dickhead then you don’t deserve to be an influence in a little person’s life.
When you are able to get pregnant ( by choice or without choice), when you are able to give birth ( with or without your partner’s support), when you are able to breast feed ( with or without your partner’s , your sexs, your societies or your employers support), when you are able to reach equal pay ( with or without ‘leave’ from your job), when you are able to not be discriminated against for 1 taking a break to push the baby out, 2 taking a break to breastfeed for the first 12 months 3 taking a break to raise a new human to be loving, caring, responsible and aware child 4 being able to return to your position without being ‘fined’ for doing an amazing ‘work’ of labour…When you can do all that without fear or favour, without discrimination or vilification and you dedicate your every spare second to the care, health, cleanliness and feeding, loving, educating and protecting a little baby/toddler/child…THEN you can say you have it over women to be primary carer.
The men I know who got primary custody were amazing, giving, caring, dedicated, sacrificing wonderful dads. They deserved it and got it.
Stop whingeing ( people like “Mark”) get off your bum and prove your absolute adoration and dedication to the care of your child. ( Nope; no more coffee’s and late night drinks. No more freedom to behave as you want. No more right to climb the corporate ladder, or put the child’s welfare on hold whilst you write yet another email, take another call, wine and dine your boss till further notice).
In other words the sacrifice women give to their babies, children continues to go unrecognised, disrespected and unadmired. Why? Coz they don’t make ‘money’, whilst they are making babies/future citizens.
Abbott has no freakin’ idea.
He should not have anything to do with anything about any humans, let alone women.
Halsaul, your psychological summary of Abbott’s sociopathic personality is spot on! The spoilt, privileged and totally pampered boy raised to believe he is King of the World, growing up without any sense of responsibility … a miscreant who believes the world owes him a living and one who can lie, cheat and bully his way to success without consequence. Abbott is the vile product of a dysfunctional family where women were there merely in a role to support the self entitlement of the male Emperor.
Pudd’nhead, sadly I believe that Abbott’s staggering self entitlement stems from his father! Richard Abbott (yes, there actually WAS a Dick head of this family!) was a wealthy orthodontist who could EASILY have afforded to pay for the passage of his OWN family to Australia. However, instead of doing the RIGHT THING, Tricky Dicky decided to seek full government subsidised passage to Australia under the Ten Pound Pom Scheme! He decided to rort money off Australian taxpayers instead of paying his own way … sounds familiar? It seems that self entitlement and rorting the system is a vile family trait. It certainly seems to be the ONLY thing that Phony Tony has learnt and perfected over the years. The Abbott family, true blue conservative Tories at heart, never really had any great affection for Australia … Tony Abbott was raised in the neoliberal Tory tradition believing that England was the mother country and everything Australian is second rate … these beliefs are evident in everything Phony Tony says and does. His cloying, embarrassing re-introduction of the despised draconian knighthood system is just one example of he and his family’s crawling, obsequious subservience to British imperialism and elitism. Abbott waited until he was 24 to become a DUAL Australian citizen and only became a DUAL Australian citizen (at aged 24) because he wanted to be eligible for a student government subsidy!
To date, Abbott still ILLEGALLY clings to his DUAL UK Citizenship DESPITE it being against the strict law of Article 44i in the Australian Constitution that clearly states that NO ONE, (no exceptions) in the front cabinet of the government of Australia must EVER carry DUAL CITIZENSHIP with ANY foreign country (which includes the UK) because such DUAL CITIZENSHIP can (and has) presented a severe CONFLICT OF INTEREST! Other illegal holders of DUAL CITIZENSHIP within the front cabinet of the LNP are: Eric Abetz (German dual citizenship), Mathias Cormann (Belgian dual citizenship). The previous PM, Julia Gillard, has PROVEN that she has relinquished her UK dual citizenship (being Welsh born). However, Peta Credlin and Tony Abbott REFUSE to PROVE that Abbott, Abetz or Cormann have relinquished their dual citizenships. Until they do, they should be SACKED IMMEDIATELY … why isn’t Labor or Greens following this up? The law is very clear on this issue! It just goes to PROVE that there is a law for the polticians and another law for us. The staggering corruption of the MPs within the LNP gives them a sense of being bullet proof … they REALLY do believe that they are ABOVE the laws that govern the rest of us! This can NEVER EVER be tolerated.
@Salsarat Yes indeed, why are not Labor and the Greens pressing the issue of Abbott’s, Abetz’s and Cormann’s (The Three Amigos) questionable dual citizenship issues?
By staying silent, The Three Amigos are taking refuge in the legal position of being assumed innocent until proven guilty. (Strange how they depend on our common decency and yet they do not afford the same standards to vulnerable people on welfare or seeking asylum as refugees!)
Labor and the Greens must put the question of Abbott’s, Abetz’s and Cormann’s (The Three Amigos) illegal political positions as power abusers front and centre.
The Australian people don’t like being played for fools, even if one could suggest this is what the LNP Degenerates have made an art of.
If the Australian people come to understand that The Three Amigos are deliberately defying Article 44i in the Australian Constitution, my prediction is they will not be impressed and this will be evident in immediate polling.
That is absolutely right, Jennifer. My suspicions are this that Labor is NOT going to pursue the issue because there are MPs within their midst who also maintain illegal DUAL citizenship. Once again, politicians (of both sides) place themselves ABOVE the laws that govern the rest of us. I believe there should be an apolitical THIRD BODY (it should be ICAC but they seem to be rendered useless) that OVERSEES politicians of both sides to ENFORCE the law and ensure that they abide by the laws of democracy, free speech and governmental ethics. This current corrupt, self seeking pack of lying degenerates is what HAPPENS when no one is watching and there is no body LOOKING OVER THE SHOULDERS of a fascist regime that is completely out of control!
It seems that every decision made to increase workforce participation favours industries dominated by men – from subsidies to mining and agriculture (85% and 72% male) to manufacturing (73%) and construction (88%) – even Labor’s GFC stimulus programs in insulation and school buildings. In contrast, programs with a majority of women employees – health care (78%) and education (70%) have had funding reduced. No wonder the Minister for Women fell back on his one-answer-fits-all Carbon tax response.
Spot on observation Judith W.
There is never any emphasis on creating better incentives, diversity and jobs in industries that encourage women’s employment.
“When Abbott announced he would assume the role of Minister for Women, this could have signalled a step forward. ”
A step forward ? …… doubt that very VERY much. ….
An ultra cynical self-appointed post – most likely to ‘prove’ something against the former Government ….. which is all in his head. Poor poor poor Tony …….. hasn’t a bloody clue !!
Let’s now see, exactly what he does or achieves as the alleged ” Minister for Women” ………
Nausea overcomes me at the thought.