Col Rouge I agree with everything you have said except perhaps you mean “caste” rather than “cast”…

Interesting to think that, on a technicality, currently Australia is ruled by a woman -Queen Elizabeth II! I’m not an advocate for hereditary monarchy and yes I know that the Queen doesn’t do any practical ruling, but it’s handy to (shock, horror) pedantically point out when people complain that we don’t have any women in government that the person currently in the top job is a woman.

A few reasons.

Australian women hate to see other Australian women succeed.(anywhere, not just parliament)

Australian women in politics are subject to sexist remarks and gossip that devalue their achievements.

Parliament is a bully pit that excludes due to it's very nature, not only women.

the question should be "why would a woman go through that"?

Coyote, I very much disagreed with what appeared to be a very sexist post.

"Wise Women Leadership, instead of the flagrant sexual display of 'male aggression', is something we could all do with.

Women have healthy emotional responses, so because women have not blunted their emotions,it is a barrier to Power."

I tend to think that there is more scope in our society for women to express and focus on emotion than for men, the "take it like a man" or "big enough balls" type comments that pop up in some of these threads demonstrate that issue fairly well. That does not mean that men don't have emotions or that womens emotions are necessarily healthier than mens, rather the norms for expressing emotions are probably different and possibly the weight given to emotion when making decisions (I'm not convinced of this but will consider the possibility).

I've often wondered at the manner coalition female politicians are attacked and what impact that has on perceptions of their ability. The focus on Bronywn Bishops looks compared to that placed on male politicians is worth a think about. I have not noticed as much of it against more left leaning female politicians, or maybe the left tends to have more attractive female politicians - are the less attractive ones filtered out by Labor?

What role does the focus on female politicians looks play in the ability of capable female politicians to get to the top? Is Bronywn any more unattractive than Kim and does it matter? Is Bronwyn capable (I'm undecided)?

R0bert

Why don't women get to the top? You've heard of the 'Sea Change" well Australia women usually take the "Nappy Change".

The "Nappy change" is when a woman has her first child... too often she stops working and never works seriously again. If she does return to work, often it'll be part-time, something easier and close-to-home.

To get to the top you have to work long hours for long years! Sadly in Australia our best-and-brightest women usually stop working full-time once they have their first kid. Nobody stops them from returning to their careers and the long hours... they CHOOSE not to!

Now don't blame expensive childcare... remember this future prime-minister is the woman who was on her way up, successful, hard-working, rapidly climbing up the ladder... she can easily afford the childcare...

In the Nordic countries women generally hold around 40% of Parliament and 30% of board-level positions. Why? Because Dads and mothers get equal parental leave there. Afterwards they both return to full-time work. Dad's get family-friendly policies and love the balance! Women earn their power.

What I don't understand is why Australian dads put up with it... instead of a "nappy change", dads are forced to INCREASE their hours to pay the mortgage and maintain the DINK lifestyle on a single income.

When they stop being DINKS and suddenly become SInKs (Single income 'n kids) a dad's hope for a work-life balance and craving to enjoy his kids sadly SInKs too. Australian Dads do 23hrs a week more 'work'-work than mothers.

The burden of being the breadwinner is why Australian men are afraid to commit to marriage and kids, because it is years of hard work with little of the fun of being a parent. They also have a sensible fear of a divorce which would take everything away, even their kids!

This is exactly why the Nordic countries have kept high birthrates - because men actually want to become dads, because they get to be a parent, not just a wallet.

PartTimeParent@yahoo.com.au

Col,

Give it a break mate.... are you saying that our current load of pollies are there on "merit"? Can you provide a list of the "merit" challenges they have passed. I lying about WMD's merit... or misrepresenting that "kids were thrown overboard" and forgetting to tell the country that they were thrown overboard because the ship was sinking.

All parliaments should have 50% of them made up of women.... so that women are properly represented truly reflecting society.

The entire world runs on a system of balance... a balance between industry and environment, work and leasure etc.

Women deserve to be represented by women so that Australia is seen as a truly reprentative democracy.

Under the current "merit" process if you are a bloke you get a safe seat and if you are a woman you get a marginal one. So much for merit!

You only have to look at our various public services around the country, to see what happens when affirmative action is practiced.
Queensland health has quite a few Area Directors promoted on sex, rather than ability, enough said?
Why is it that only the nastiest women get mentioned as leadership material? I would be ashamed to call Gillard my Prime Minister, although no more so, than I would have been with Labors last candidate. I would not be ashamed of Beazley.
I admired Maggie, from a distance, but I don't know if I would have been proud of her, if I were a Brit.
One of the bigest problems of the left, is their fixation with getting women into senior positions, regardless of ability.