julia: a few talking points for the weekend.
Yesterday was surreal. I was caught between two worlds. And, in fact, yesterday was a classic example of the professional balancing act I walk most days. On the one hand I was absorbed by what was going down. I was totally stunned by the fact WE HAVE A NEW PM! And listened to commentary all day on radio (my favourite medium).
enough with the red hair/Strine accent/dress sense/hairdresser boyfriend references already? (Today's cover of the Illawarra Mercury)
I was doing this while getting ready for the ASTRA awards, held last night. I presented one of the awards (alongside Selling Houses’ Andrew Winter who cleaned up the awards last night) and had to slide into my other “role”, the one that involves getting dressed up and donning a certain public persona. Not that this persona is false, it’s just that it contrasts so starkly with the everyday me. So much so, most of the world doesn’t recognise me from one role to the other. Which I rather like.
Anyway, as I was getting my hair and makeup done yesterday, I listened to ABC radio and was online, checking out commentary. So, a few thoughts and links I came upon that you might want to bone up on for some engaged discussion over the weekend.
* How can a “spill” like this happen? Julia Cowdroy wrote a helpful rundown on the anatomy of a “spill” on Mia Freedman’s blog yesterday.
* Do you know if you’re properly enrolled to vote? Do it now in, like, 2 minutes here. DO IT NOW BECAUSE YOU ONLY HAVE A FEW DAYS TO DO IT ONCE THE ELECTION IS CALLED. This is an election we must all have a say in!!!
* Did you notice the mood of the day yesterday? It was very still. Like the space between two breathes. I got very emotional. Cried a lot.
* I have this fear: that Gillard’s moment might be wasted. I think she is more than up for the job. I think she’s the best person for the job and I’ve been discussing it with senior journalists who work close to it all for a while…no one is doubting this. The issue is that she’s going to be tarnished as the woman who unfairly brought down Rudd. And that her chances of remaining PM have been compromised. How her big moment came about is a worry, not the fact of it. Peter Hartcher at SMH discusses this, and the concern she could become a mere factional puppet. VERY SADLY he includes this:
Gillard’s “as smart as any man, as tough as any man, as able as any man”….
Which brings me to this discussion point:
won’t it be nice when everyone is able to stop referencing Gillard as a woman…before anything else? I think it will take a while, because The Marvel of it all does need to be discussed further for a bit.
But that said, I think it WILL die out quickly. My observation of Guillard is that she rises above gender demarcations. Or at least doesn’t get bogged down in them. This is a gift she possesses. She’s naturally unaffected, I feel. Unattached.
All kinds of stereotyped commentary and barbs are slugged her way. She has merely watched them fly through the air, she’s smiled at them and then watched then land limply behind her. Splat. She doesn’t get defensive, or try to define herself around the comments. This is so smart. She’s the genuine Teflon politician.
When she was accused of being “barren”, when she was given grief about not having a fully stocked pantry and a casserole in the oven (remember the empty fruit bowl fiasco?), she simply hmpf’d at it. A Big Whatever. And moved on to what she’s paid to do.
It reminds me of something I read about the new Naomi Watts film, directed by Rodrigo Garcia – Mother and Child. In the film Watts’ character has an affair with a black man. The reviews I’ve read say that one of the best things about the film is the fact that this inter-racial situation isn’t referred to once. Not even a nod to it. It’s completely normalised, a non-issue. Reviewers have commented on how refreshing this is (although in their very mentioning of it they undo the very thing they’re applauding).
I think Gillard’s behaviour will operate in a similar way. She’ll quickly shift things so that we stop discussing her contributions in terms of her being a woman. She’ll move the energy. This is her power. And I’m rather in awe of it. It’s a joy to watch. It’s our next chapter.
As a final note, Julia Baird wrote a great piece in today’s SMH on all the brouhaha about our PM being a woman.
She writes:
This is truly novel: we have a female leader known for her political skill, thick hide and love of debate – not for her personal life, pumpkin scones or love of frocks….
Women are too often expected to float above the political fray, not wade into it, rolling up their sleeves. A failure to understand the way prominent women demonstrate authority is one of the hallmarks of Western culture. When female politicians exercise true power, it is usually described as secondary (deriving from a husband or male ally), surprising (Wow! She really can make decisions!), or severe (insert the ”B” word here).
I think this will be one of the most fascinating sub-plots of this unfolding story…observing how female power can work. If we’re going to marvel at the fact our PM is a woman, this is the realm we should be meeting in. This is where it will get interesting.
I live in an area with a female Lord Mayor, Premier and Governor, in a country with a female Governor General and PM. Who would’ve ever have thought???
Sarah – thank you for that brilliant round-up, it’s fantastic in so many ways you’ve articulated many of my own thoughts about it all.
I was disappointed yesterday to see the blogs starting to give their 2cents worth of giving Julia a makeover *sigh* When will we stop doing this? Why can’t we accept people as they are and focus on the important issues?
I have to say I was appalled at how it was all handled and it really took away some of the potentially good aspects of it besides Julia being our first female PM.
And thank you for continuing to share your insightfulness (don’t know if that’s a word, but I’m going with it) with us.
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Umm, I know I’m being picky, but you may want to spell our new PM’s name correctly.
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I started crying at the gym yesterday, for no discernable reason.
I think I just found the whole day overwhelming.
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Although I am not a Julia fan, I wrote somthing similar about how we need to stop seeing her as a woman and just start seeing her as the PM on my blog. You might enjoy http://wordsmithlane.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/the-only-degrees-women-need-to-know-about-are-on-the-oven-what-our-female-pm-has-got-me-thinking/
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we’re done dancing, now let’s not go backwards by letting Abbott take the helm and sewnd me back to the kitchen
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sarah – i just saw your Astra pic on the mammamia website and had to come over here to tell you you look ROCKN’! SMOKIN! etc etc
how do you keep so healthy???? and glowing?
really, how?
what’s your exercise regime
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Sarah..can I say firstly wow & wow again, you look absolutely gorgeous in that photo. The colour (what is it?) of your dress looks great against your New York tan.
Yesterday was an amazing day. I too followed it for a lot of the day. I was especially impressed with Gillard’s midday address. There was a wonderful mixture of awe, compassion & determination in both her message and style. I also thought she did very well with Tracey Grimshaw in “A Current Affair” with one exception. She was given an opportunity to demonstrate a real gentleness towards Kevin Rudd’s situation which I thought she missed. Yes, there was compassion but Tracey offered her a couple of goes at it which I think she missed. But I gotta remember she’s a politician I guess, I would have thought with the closeness (I assume) of their relationship there was an opportunity to express more compassion.
Female power, yes, let’s hope we see that. I hope we lose the we emphasis on her being a woman and I think we will. As you quite rightly point out Sarah, I think the emphasis in the short term will be on her role in being right hand to Rudd for the past few years and also her role in what was an ugly spill.
But in saying that we now have an opportunity to see a different style of leadership, different for many reasons but one being that Julia Gillard is a woman and as a result brings different attributes that a man can’t bring. I reckon she’ll do a great job as PM.
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Hi Sarah, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I am not typically a Labor voter, but Julia has given me food for thought. I don’t think that the way she got into office was particularly heinous, as some people have complained – it’s politics, after all, which is intrinsically dirty. I would NEVER have voted Rudd, but I am considering voting Gillard. I feel as though I can trust her to do what’s best – at least, what she thinks is best – and tell the truth. Let’s see how that goes.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by sarah wilson and Laura Curtis, deborah. deborah said: RT @_sarahwilson_: julia: a few talking points for the weekend. http://bit.ly/cwmX9z [...]
nice post. thanks.
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…… First we get Obama, now Gillard. Welcome to the 21st Century!
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Hi Sarah
I spend much of the week brooding over the changeover to Julia. I for one believe Julia is the right person for the Job right now. I think Kevin Rudd did an excellent Job as well. Unlike the other Red headed female Ms Hanson. Labor was given a strong mandate at the last election to seriously reduce carbon emissions. I am hoping Julia reignites this issue for the future of our Planet.
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Radio is my medium of choice for all things news too. I appreciate how transportable it is.
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When I lived in Melbourne, I thought Joan Kirner did a good job as premier, Carmen Lawrence did well in Perth and Anna Bligh is doing well, and I have worked for and learnt so much from senior female and male bureaucrats too. I did indeed wonder why more women were not promoted over men into top roles, but in those days it was all based on the failed premise that length of service promoted the most able ( Humphrey Appleby), and thankfully that has changed, and will continue to change. The focus should, I believe be on “People” or “Person” and we are all finding what an able manager and politician Julia Gillard is proving to be.
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