22 Jul 10 Female Leaders: feminist standard bearers or conservative ball breakers?

Before rushing to the conclusion that the election of Julia Gillard as Labor Leader and Prime Minister of Australia is the dawn of a new age of enlightenment and gender equity, it might be as well to consider the legacy of a few other female leaders.

Indira Ghandi: Prime Minister of the Republic of India for three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977 and for a fourth term from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. During the state of emergency she imposed (1975-77) Ghandi attempted to restore order by ordering the arrest of most of the opposition including the leader. She was later found guilty of electoral corruption and jailed. Ghandi also implemented a family planning program which forcibly imposed vasectomy on thousands of men. This policy was (understandably) particularly unpopular. Being the first woman Prime Minister of India, and an influential leader, in a prevalently male-dominated society, Indira Gandhi is considered by some a symbol of feminism in India but for reasons among those mentioned, she is not remembered kindly by many.

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. Thatcher carried out a draconian ‘divide and conquer’ approach to to her opponents and unions. Critics have regretted her influence in the abandonment of full employment, poverty reduction and a consensual civility as bedrock policy objectives. Many recent biographers have been critical of many aspects of the Thatcher years and Michael White writing in New Statesman in February 2009 wondered if the ‘ hubristic collapse of the free-market model of capitalism that she promoted [had] dealt her another blow. Who was it who first removed the seat belts and airbags from the safe-but-boring Volvo that the West built after 1945? ‘Her freer, more promiscuous version of capitalism’ in Hugo Young‘s phrase is reaping a darker harvest. Thatcher’s introduction of the hated poll tax, privatisation of water, electricity, and British Rail made her one of the most unpopular leaders of her generation. A reactionary conservative, Thatcher was anything but a feminist

Sarah Palin faced criminal charges for embezzlement during her term as mayor of Wasilla. Her her husband, Todd, was also indicted for misappropriating construction materials meant for the town sports complex to build the Palin’s home. source An independent investigator for the state Alaska Personnel Board found that there may have been evidence suggesting that a trust fund created to pay Palin’s legal expenses is in violation of state ethics law. source It was also alleged that Sarah Palin abused her power by letting her husband press for the firing of a State Trooper Michael Wooten, who was involved in a divorce and custody battle with Palin’s sister, a legislative probe found, while adding that she acted within her authority when she dismissed the state’s public safety commissioner. source

Palin has also become well known for her many assaults on the English language, her most recent being: “Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn’t it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate.” -a Tweet by Sarah Palin, which she quickly removed after being ridiculed for inventing the word “refudiate,” (July 18, 2010) Read more Sarah Palin quotes here: Dumb Sarah Palin Quotes, Gaffes and Lies

Is it unfair to ridicule Sarah Palin? It is perhaps a little too easy. As a public figure and possible contender for US President in 2012, Palin must accept all the scrutiny she is subjected to. Palin may not be a national leader yet but is being touted by many as a strong possibility. She remains highly popular; perhaps her supporters do not think that a firm grasp of the English language and a strong grasp of national affairs and foreign policy are necessary qualities in a world leader. Again, Sarah Palin is a committed conservative and anything but a feminist.

Of course, not all female leaders have been right wing conservatives. Notable exceptions are Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988–1990; 1993–1996) and first woman to lead a Muslim state and Corazon Aquino, 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold that office. Nevertheless, a great many female politicians seem to gravitate to the conservative side of politics. Why is this?

Could it be that the perception of politics as a male field and women’s lower status in society in general makes it easier for female politicians on the conservative side to be successful? Credibility is perhaps easier to come by when you are a supporter of the status quo rather than as a radical agitator. This is perhaps the same reason why the few indigenous politicians who have been elected to office, such as Neville Bonner also chose to represent the conservative side. Political parties have been accused of tokenism for promoting women and minorities to office. It would seem that as long as you don’t rock the boat, it doesn’t really matter what gender or colour you are. If those who are committed to reform are consistently denied, the current dearth of female politicians (in Australia at least) is nothing more than tokenism. The glass ceiling it would seem, remains firmly in place.

Julia Gillard, so far at least, is no exception to this rule. She may be Labor leader but Labor has been anything but left wing for a number of years. She has made her ‘tough’ position on border protection and asylum seekers clear by appealing to the more xenophobic sections of the community. She has given multinational mining a feeble compromise which has allowed them to walk away with most of what they wanted. She has also come out against gay marriage. Perhaps the Herald’s Peter Hatcher summed up Gillard’s leadership to date best in his article: No numbers, no substance, no solutions – just populist platitudes So far, Gillard’s main M.O. seems to be: make my leadership look like a grand vision while actually doing as little as possible. Until leaders like Gillard risk losing a few votes by implementing a few possibly unpopular reforms, nothing is likely to change.