Gender Equality in National Politics: The Views of Australian Male Politicians

Abstract

Studies of gender and politics have typically been studies of women and politics. In contrast, this paper places men at the centre of its inquiry by drawing on interviews with 15 current federal male politicians. Of concern is exploring the ways in which men conceptualise the question of gender equity in the Australian parliament. Three frameworks are identified in the men's narratives. These are that the parliament is a masculinised space but that this is unavoidable; that the parliament is now feminised and women are advantaged; and that the parliament is gender neutral and gender is irrelevant. It is argued that collectively these framing devices operate to mask the many constraints which exist to marginalise women from political participation and undermine attempts to address women's political disadvantage as political participants. The paper concludes by highlighting the significance of the paper beyond the Australian context and calling for further research which names and critiques political men and their discourses on gender and parliamentary practices and processes.

Male‐dominated workplaces and the power of masculine privilege: A comparison of the Australian political and construction sectors

“…In technical occupations like those found in construction, women's sex and gender shapes expectations associated with their technical ability and rationality impacting their professional legitimacy (Faulkner, 2009). Similarly in politics, women have the impossible task of not seeming to be too feminine, while also not arousing male approbation or vilification on the one hand for not being a 'real' woman or on the other, for being 'too tough' (Chappell, 2002;Crawford & Pini, 2010).…”

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“…They are also ingredients in the four Hollywood scripts described by van Zoonen (2005). These are potential disturbances in the sense that not all female politicians will be received as disturbing by their audience (be it the electorate, the media or other politicians), but since the association between femininity and these signs are strong or sticky, female politicians are always up against the potential of being stuck with one or the other; and judging from interview based research, they are very aware of this (Ross & Sreberny-Mohammadi 1997;Ross 2002;Puwar 2004;Crawford & Pini 2010).…”

Australian Politics in a Digital Age

“…This is relevant given the gendered nature of politics in Australia. Gendering normalises Australian politics as an inherently masculine 'zero sum' activity and, correspondingly, explains the low level of women's participation as political elites (Crawford & Pini, 2010). In the context of the Australian political blogosphere, Mark Bahnisch (2006: 145) has talked about the dominance of masculine voices in this space (the majority of highprofile political bloggers in Australia are men), and the relationship between this and limited civility in these fora.…”