To be a politician and represent your constituency is a privilege, and an honour. You are supposed to be the very best of us. The most articulate, the most intelligent and grown up; the kindest, and most compassionate; the hardest working, the fairest, most gentle, and most level headed. It is not an easy job. And if you cannot fulfil these things, then you really ought to consider a different line of work. There are women serving as politicians right now, who have continually derided men; again and again, insulting fathers as not essential to families, who are not ‘bound to be an asset to family life’. These words are not those flippantly spat out in a moment of anger, for which we are all guilty of at times. They are carefully considered, written, and published in political papers, and used to lobby government to brutally strip fathers of the equal right to their children. There are women in politics who think it is ‘a frankly laughable thing’, that urgent ‘men’s issues’ should be discussed in parliament during International Mens Day. Such women forget their position as politicians, and scoff and giggle like big babies instead. There are even multiple women who have assaulted their male partners, been arrested, cautioned, and even detained by police – yet they continue to serve and reach new levels of success in politics. How? For me, there is zero tolerance to such things. If you assault your partner, or anyone, your career as a politician should be over – and for men in such a position, it surely would be. So do we seem to cut more slack to female politicians, who behave in such abhorrent ways? Are we holding them to the same expectations as we do their male peers? Would any of these women still be working in politics today, if they were men? What do you think? ~ Image by Joakin Honkaslo, Brooke Kagle, and Black Kiwi Hug.

2023-10-18