The New Generation Society

Jennifer O’Mahony

Jennifer O’Mahony is an NGS member reading English Literature at York University. Following “Ladies First” she analyses the role of female politicians for the New Generation and discusses why it’s about time they were taken seriously.Jennifer O’Mahony is an NGS member reading English Literature at the University of York. In this article she analyses the role of female politicians for the New Generation and discusses why it’s about time they were taken seriously.

The pictures emerging from the Conservative party conference in September [2007] were all very similar. There were David Cameron and George Osborne with grins glued to their faces, then a couple of shots of Samantha Cameron looking bashful.

And then there was Theresa May. Who would have thought a pair of leopard skin patterned wellies could cause such a fuss? “Tragic” was the word bandied around the most, but why no mention of what May had said during the conference that day? Neither was there any coverage of Caroline Spellman, Party Chair, or any female at all.

The problem is, there are now a substantial minority of female politicians in Britain, but they are routinely ignored, or worse, subjected to the views of what balding, middle-aged male journalists think of their outfits, or in Jacqui Smith’s case, even their cleavage. Theresa May’s shoes have had far more coverage than her views or responsibilities as an MP have ever had. What about Ken Clarke’s belly? David Miliband’s haircut? Nicholas Soames in general? The truth is that the media find it difficult to simply accept female politicians as representatives of themselves and the country.

Generally speaking, there are two clichés of female politicians: the Ruthless Bitch or the Weak Woman. Hillary Clinton falls under the first category. She is clearly unafraid of power, and that scares a lot of men. I have read articles that describe Clinton as “ambitious” as though this is a negative attribute, and words such as “cold” and “calculating” crop up all too often. Of course, It is naïve to assume that any person running for the Presidency of the United States isn’t calculating, as any pollster will tell you, that is how elections are won. Clinton is well on her way to achieving the Democratic nomination, a far cry from reciting cookie recipes for the ‘Soccer Mom’ demographic in 1996, which her husband courted during his second campaign for President. The second stock type of 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, criticised for being strongly Catholic despite having 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. Religious objections aside, Ruth Kelly has four children, a husband, a constituency and a ministerial position; “weak” is not at the forefront of her personality. In essence, these stereotypes allow the public to safely categorise away these women in their minds, reducing their achievements to: “Isn’t she the one whose husband cheated on her?”

A further problem female politicians face is the assumption that they are only there to represent other women. While women’s issues are obviously important, it seems strange when Patricia Hewitt, the former Health secretary, or Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary, were asked about issues which 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 into 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 were automatically 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 to them about the hardcore politics.”

But what do women really bring to politics, and how are they changing policy? 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 nineties are well and truly dead, and work-life balance and paternity leave are hot topics. Is it any wonder that so large a proportion of the country felt alienated by the political system when it consisted of a bear pit of ex-public schoolboys braying at each other? A softer politics could lead to a softer world, where logic and reason dominate over hysterical triviality, not that the latter is an entirely male preserve. Within the last couple of months, Harriet Harman and Jacqui Smith were said to be supporting legislation designed to criminalise men who buy sex rather than the women who sell it. This is entirely logical, as the guilty party is not just the prostitute. It is amazing that it has taken until 2007 for someone to think about enshrining this into law, but perhaps that is because politicians are very shrewd when it comes to putting their own wayward behaviour under scrutiny (step forward John Prescott).

On another tack, there is a sense of immense bravery surrounding many female politicians, especially in the troublespots from a global viewpoint. Think of Aung Sang Suu Kyi, held under house arrest for ten years in Burma. She was democratically elected by her people but is unable to serve them, unable to see her husband and two sons, and yet she is always smiling in photos, as though the knowledge that she has the won hearts and minds of her people, and by association their absolute trust, is enough. Think of 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 under threat of death from the Taleban. She escaped unscathed from the attack on her life which followed as promised, and in the press conference which preceded it, her daughter Bakhtwah simply said: “I am so proud of my mother”. These two women have an absolute dedication to their country, above the safety of themselves, above the traditional role of wife and mother and above any criticism of being just too damn 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 almost had to make herself sexless in order to counter any gender-based criticism, never taking a stand on women’s issues and surrounding herself entirely with men. She was the original alpha female, and the satirical TV show Spitting Image wasted no time in mocking her dominance over her male colleagues. However, the implication seemed to be that she was less of a woman because of this tendency. If we briefly return to Julia Heaton, Thatcher’s 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 is not necessarily seen as a positive thing by many women, who feel that femininity is part of who they are, and that to ignore it is a betrayal to themselves. Certainly today, politicians are using their womanliness as a weapon to getting elected. Clinton has been especially good at this. She commented in April: “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 has overseen the revival of the NHS, the introduction of civil partnerships in the UK and massive improvements to schools in Britain. They have brought greater equality, not just of gender but race and sexual orientation too. These women are courageous, and for some reason the ones the media love to hate. In the long view, change will be gradual in this country because of the safe seats many established politicians have, but groups such as Women to Win and vibrant student political debate will ensure that the future for female politicians is not centred around leopard skin print footwear.