To mark International Women's Day, the establishment media inundated us with a "feminism" which is a far cry for the lives of ordinary women. They pushed the line that "feminism" is synonymous with the lives and careers of rich and famous women.
An article in the Australian magazine looked at the women who are "making it" in the Liberal Party, dividing them into two categories: the "post-feminist" generation, born in the '60s, who "recoil from the word (but) many of them are feminists", and the "lady trogs", described as "born-to-rule Tory matrons with boarding school accents" who tend to be married to Liberal politicians and who "work behind the scenes". Both strongly defend the Liberal Party's record on women's rights. After all, they got more women into parliament, didn't they?
At the last federal election the Coalition got 26 women into both houses of parliament (around twice as many as Labor). They have two women in cabinet — Labor had one.
But who are these women "achievers"? They are minister for education and employment Amanda Vanstone, who is presiding over some of the most vicious attacks on public education and welfare since the second world war; minister for family services Judi Moylan, who wants to allow nursing home operators to charge the elderly an average entry fee of $26,000; and Australia's infamous "iron lady", Bronwyn Bishop.
These women are part of a government opposed to everything that genuine feminism stands for — full equality for all women in the economic, political and social spheres. They have done nothing to advance this feminist project.
Labor marketed feminism in a glib vote-catching endeavour, but its record shows that it had no fundamental commitment to women's rights. The ALP just did better at passing itself off as the party for women, aided by the cooption of sections of the '70s women's movement.
Having either Labor or Liberal women in high places is no victory for women's rights. These women defend the established order, which is profoundly anti-woman.
GLW fights for a genuine feminist perspective — not merely placing a few token women in high places, but turning the tables against the status quo and placing the majority, both women and men, in control of society. We urge you to help. Buy a Green Left subscription for yourself or a friend. Call our free call hotline on 1800 634 206. Green Left Weekly — it's your paper.