Dear Prime Minister,
I have watched over the last few years as you have led
Australia, and been abused by certain right-wing Australian institutions merely
for the crime of being a woman. I may not have agreed with all of your
politics, but I have never wavered in my belief that what you are doing is a
truly brave thing- you are the first female prime minister of a country where exhibitions
of deeply-rooted sexism still occur alarmingly frequently.
I have to read about the sexist abuse you suffer through the
Guardian, as I long ago gave up reading the Australian publications online (I don't want an
alarmingly right-wing, conservative veil draped over all my news thank you very much). Anyone would think, reading the
puerile Australian broadsheets, that you had committed political suicide when
you confronted the opposition leader in parliament last year. Here in the Netherlands and all
over the world you were touted as a hero, an activist, a crusader for female
empowerment.
And now, it seems as though more neanderthals have behaved
revoltingly these past few weeks. It makes me furious to read about stupid
things that have been said or done by men who are intent on tying up your
femininity with your politics.
I thought the situation that you find yourself in was summed
up perfectly by one of the top comments on the Guardian this week- after yet
another report of yet another sexist attack, the first commenter wrote “What is
going on here, this is getting ridiculous.” This one simple comment summed it
up perfectly. It is ridiculous the level of sexist abuse you are facing. Those
men are lucky they live in a society where this sort of behavior is applauded
and condoned, and the rest of us are the unlucky ones who must struggle to keep
our cool and hang on for more enlightened times.
I attached this link to a Guardian article, that horrible as
it is, demonstrates the good company you find yourself in. You, and all the
other women in politics today who are fighting in what some people call a “post-feminism”
world, are doing future generations a huge favour. Incidentally, that is
obviously a term coined by men. Nobody who had to walk a mile in your shoes
would call this is a “post-feminism” world.
I know there’s probably nothing that can take the sting out
of those sexist barbs, but I think it important to tell you that you inspire me.
You have fought battles that subsequent female prime ministers will not have
to, because you were there first. I’m not naïve in thinking it will be easy for
the next woman to take on your position, but it will be easier because you were
the first to forge a path through this sea of sexist bullshit.
Sincerely,
An expatriate who hopes to one day return.
(But not if Tony Abbott becomes Prime Minister).
