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We do not live in a culture of equality

October 25, 2012 2:29 pm

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Emma Burnell

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Next month I am delighted that I will be speaking on the platform at the Labour Women’s Network Political Day.

Labour Women’s Network are a superb organisation. They work tirelessly to promote and support women candidates at every level of our party. They are a huge part of the reason Labour looks as diverse as it does, and why our gender representation is so far ahead of other major parties. They are a continuing part of the solution to the crisis of representation of women in political life.

All the speakers thus far announced to the Conference are women. The panel will be an all-women panel. This is not a platform of second rate wannabes cobbled together following rules that have hobbled reasonableness and hampered the ability of the organisers to get the best. This is (with the possible exception of yours truly) a platform bursting with expertise, experience, rigour and with life experiences. These are real experts in campaigning, in strategy and in engaging with the public over important and essential issues to all the electorate. All are welcome to attend to hear what they have to say. I hope that the audience will have many men interested to hear what these great speakers have to say about the future of the party. Some will talk from a woman’s perspective, some will not – all will have messages that will be vital to the path the Party must take towards success in 2015.

This panel is the final nail in the coffin of the lie that you cannot get a decent political panel together that doesn’t include at least, at the very least, one woman. We’re out there in strength. This list should be a starting place for anyone seeking to build an interesting panel on electoral and political strategy before next year’s conference season. It is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to female expertise.

Some have criticised me for hypocrisy for supporting an all-women panel and railing so strongly against all-male panels. To do so, is to deny the male-dominated patriarchy in which we live. Attempts at equality have stalled and women like myself feel less welcomed as part of the political conversation than we have for quite some time. The macho political culture is becoming overwhelming, and the added free-for-all of internet abuse makes the public square a very difficult place to be a woman.

We do not live in a culture of equality. To achieve equality, therefore, the balance must be loaded in favour of women until equilibrium is achieved. It really is as simple and straightforward as that. All Women Shortlists, All-women panels, Women’s conference and the Labour Women’s Network are excellent tools to be employed towards achieving an end that makes their use obsolete.

But we ain’t there yet. To be considered strong, brave and a true leader, one must bear the hallmarks of a man. Apologies to Mark, who I realise was just employing a phrase used by Tony Blair to describe Alastair Campbell, but last week saw a minor furore on here over the use of the phrase “Huge Clunking Balls” to describe courage. It was questioned as sexist, then the questioning was ridiculed as women are also described as “having balls”. Now personally, I don’t see what’s so brave, strong and true about carrying your testes around on the outside, whatever noise they make. Frankly, I think the greatest physical challenge any human voluntarily goes through is giving birth. But we never get told a person showing courage and strength as having a Great, Clunking Birth Canal. Though I do intend to try and popularise this now. It might be fun to see if we can get it to catch on – join me!

But until we live in a world where the rhetoric is just as likely to favour a woman as a man, positive gender discrimination has its part to play in bringing equality to our world. Until we live in a place where Prime Ministers aren’t ridiculed for being women or ridicule the women around them, this kind of event is essential to making sure the Party is attracting and utilising the very best talent we have on offer; Talent like that on display at the conference on 17^th November. I do hope to see you all there.

http://twitter.com/bencobley Ben Cobley

I think every decent lefty wants women to do well in public life, but this sort of antagonistic argument about “male-dominated patriarchy” does no one any favours, not least because amongst all the angry rhetoric (which may be justified) there is not a single example of actual discrimination being practised – unless you count Mark’s headline from the other day of course.

The whole background to the argument is meant to be self-evident. But as with so often the case with such articles purporting to represent women, the angle taken is heavily partial and fails to deal with how our culture and society might also be affecting men in some negative ways (which surely therefore affects women negatively too), while neglecting examples of ways of how women are doing rather well in present society.

Females are now doing better than males at all levels of the education ladder; women aged 22-29 are now earning more per hour than men of the same age. Meanwhile there some worrying trends emerging about men’s mental health including the prevalence of suicide.

But I don’t think dividing problems by gender like this all the time is helpful or right – it is dividing us when we should be thinking and working together and seeing social problems as problems for all society and not just for cordoned-off sections of it.

Many of the problems of our society are driven by the runaway train of global capitalism that puts increasing pressure on everyone, not just on certain groups. Discrimination and injustice do exist of course, but you are not going to change hearts and minds by practising discrimination and unfairness as a response. We should surely be practising equality and setting an example.

There are structural aspects too of course like in the electoral system, hence the imposition of All Women Shortlists. But these don’t address wider issues of representation as society changes. The root problem with the electoral system is safe seat syndrome, which means someone elected decades ago in a very different social environment can generally retain their seat for pretty much as long as they want to. Therefore all the pressure on seats goes on to the few that become available; AWS increases pressure on these, thereby increasing the premium on central control and reduces the possibilities for true local representation, alienating local people and reinforcing the power of the centre further.

There are better ways – mandatory re-selection every couple of Parliaments is one I would advocate for example. Above everything else we need to reinforce the links between communities, local parties and their representatives – that is the nexus where politics is in real trouble at the moment. Do that and we will get representativeness across the board, and a much healthier democracy with it.
- http://twitter.com/LouieWoodall Louie Woodall
  
  Hi Ben,
  
  I think when Emma refers to the lack of a ”culture of equality”, she’s going far beyond simple metrics of educational or economic performance.
  
  She’s talking about entrenched social attitudes that actively discriminate against women regardless of their economic status or contribution to society. ‘Great clunking balls’ was one small, but clear example of this.
  
  I heartily suggest a scroll through @everydaysexism:disqus to learn about the true extent of discrimination women face every minute, of every hour, of every day.
  
  Also remember feminists are not dividing problems like gender, they are struggling desperately to get ‘their problems’ recognised at all in a society that is often too willing to sweep them under the carpet
  - PeterBarnard
    
    Well, Louie and Ben, what would you say about a female CLP secretary who had a “cartoon” pinned on the office wall : “If you want dope, grow a man?”
    
    More seriously, in early December last year when we were discussing (in the Executive Committee) future speakers for the general meetings, I mentioned Alison McGovern MP for the end-of-February meeting. I was aware that she was due to give birth shortly, but thought that she should be recovered ten weeks or so after the birth.
    
    There were shrieks (and I mean shrieks) of condemnation for my “lamentable” suggestion from three of the four women present at the meeting including between themselves, “Men! What do they know?”
    
    I mentioned it to my wife when I got home, who told me that – as it happened - Alison would be present at the prize-giving at her school (my wife teaches at the school that Alison attended) in early January, not much more than a month after giving birth.
    
    In the CLP, I don’t think that I have ever caused any woman to feel uncomfortable because of gender, nor have I used gender in any discussions. It sometimes seems to me that there’s a bit of one-way traffic in this “equality” business.
  - http://twitter.com/bencobley Ben Cobley
    
    Hi Louie, I am not denying women face sexism day upon day,. My issue is that it is meant to be such a big deal in the Labour Party and wider public life. It may be the case that it is, but I’d like to know who is doing it and how – a bit of naming and shaming please. Instead we just get constant innuendo, suggestion, and reams of selectively-sourced statistics that do not prove discriminatory practices. The only discrimination I have seen taking place in the Party is against men, and it is open and socially-approved.
    - http://twitter.com/johnringer John Ringer
      
      The reason the only discrimination you’ve seen in the party is that “against men” (I assume you mean AWS’s) is probably because you ARE a man. It’s very easy to ignore or simply not notice institutionalised misogyny when it’s not happening to you, and when it’s not immediately apparent that it’s happening to those around you.
      
      I was talking to a woman friend of mine about this just tonight, and she spoke of the institutionalised sexual harassment she faced in her old workplace. In fact, I cannot think of single working-aged woman I know who hasn’t faced something similar. It shocks me, because I have never faced something similar myself, never noticed it happening to women I work with, and in the back of my mind I had thought that this kind of everyday sexism had been sorted out before I was born; yet it clearly does still happen.
      
      I know it’s hard for you to accept, but this kind of sexism is not something you can see or experience first-hand as a man, and it’s not necessarily something that you can distil into quantifiable numbers and charts (except, of course, the hugely disproportionate number of men holding positions in the Party from councillor right on upwards), let alone something as emblematic as all-women short lists. Sexism is insidious; that’s why it’s still alive even in a party as radical as ours.
      - http://twitter.com/bencobley Ben Cobley
        
        John – your post here is a good example of the sort of American-style polarised debate that has developed around this issue in Britain, whereby people are forced on to one extreme or the other if they want to participate, and the rest generally avoid it for fear of attack by one or the other side or both. You don’t cede any ground and stick to attack mode – in this case partly by making some pretty aggressive blanket assumptions about me personally that I don’t see how you can make and that I don’t think are justified.
        
        On the substantive issue of institutionalised misogyny, if this is taking place it should be revealed - people should be named and shamed (or at least we should be presented with examples of where and how it is taking place).
        
        Misogyny means “hatred of women”, which is a strong charge to make. To say hatred of women is something that is etched into our institutional social fabric is something I just don’t accept (not least with all the laws we have in place now). From the Netmums survey from the other day, it would seem that most women don’t accept it either.
        
        http://www.netmums.com/home/feminism
      - AlanGiles
        
        ” Misogyny means “hatred of women”, which is a strong charge to make.”
        
        I totally agree, Ben. I strongly dislike the word “hate”, and I always get rather concerned to see or hear the word. When anyone accuses somebody of “hatred”, I feel at a loss: for sure, there are people, and ideas and actions I have a very strong dislike or distaste for, but I can honestly say I have never “hated” anybody in my life, and though it seemed acceptable for both men and women to say they “hated” Mrs Thatcher, it is an emotion I can’t feel. I suppose contempt is the worst emotion I ever feel, but just as Duke Ellington once said “there are only two types of music – good and bad”, though you can’t say there are only “good” or “bad” men or women, I don’t think it is at all unfair to say there are many excellent politicians of both sexes and some quite poor ones as well.
        
        It is the behaviour, actions and abilities of an individual that matter, not their gender. For that reason I am against AWS – not because I have personal political ambitions (too old and too world-weary!), but it should be a matter of who can best serve and empathise with their constituents which matters, not what sex the MP is: in that sense we should be sex-blind just as we should be colour-blind. Coming from my world of jazz, it is fair to say the greatest musicians I have ever seen or heard have been black – but there are some very good white ones as well. Talent and artistry is the only thing that matters.
- http://twitter.com/johnringer John Ringer
  
  I stopped reading when you accused Emma of being “antagonistic” and of using “angry rhetoric” for pointing out the pretty glaringly self-evident fact that society remains male-dominated and patriarchal.
  
  That’s literally entry #3 in “Derailing for Dummies”: http://birdofparadox.wordpress.com/derailing-for-dummies-google-cache-reconstruction/#hostile
  - http://twitter.com/bencobley Ben Cobley
    
    If it’s so “glaringly self-evident”, and indeed, as you say “a fact”, surely it is not too much to ask for a bit of explanation?
telemachus

Emma good for you

Beats defending the Daily Mail as we previously were w,orried about

“These stories are about ordinary people who overcome difficulties: They survive disease, find their way through horrendous loss, fall out with their families and get over personal tragedies. These are not problems every one of us has, but problems every one of us can empathise with. These people (usually women) feel like me and you. Reading about their struggles and their triumphs, their fears and their hopes in a national daily newspaper, among all the stories of celebrities and politicians make these stories feel real and important, which they are.”
rekrab

Emma, bread alone wont solve the hunger! be a fisher of the circumstances! Southhampton no more Dagenham no more, while Range Rover /Jaguar invested and grew. You want to write a letter, get stuck into what’s going on and forget about the gender mish/mash.
jaime taurosangastre candelas

Emma,

you may be unaware of the McGill Pain Index, first developed by Melzack and Torgerson of McGill University (Canada) in the early 1970s, and continually refined on a world wide basis since then. It is the standard model for measuring pain of all types. It is in use in the NHS every day (and as far as I am aware, in many other health systems – certainly in Chile and in Serbia, to my own knowledge).

Childbirth measures from 30-40 out of 50 on the index (depending on the nature of delivery, and whether pre-birth preparation was undertaken). That places it roughly comparable to a mild to average migraine, below traumatic amputation of a digit, and considerably below traumatic crush injuries in which nerves continue to function. Limb burn injuries are consistently above 40, extended burn injuries around 45. Throat cancer is normally 45 or above. A typical limb fracture is about 17-19, so giving birth is worse than breaking a leg.

(Of course, no one volunteers for migraine, the chopping off of a finger, or to have their ankle crushed by a great weight).

It is not my field, but I have a suspicion that a further refinement of the pain index to attempt to quantify extreme exertion (which having supported my wife giving birth twice, I am confident is also a “feature” of child birth) would show that extreme endurance sporting events such as the Tour de France are also ahead of child birth in levels of pain. But while 50% of our population may / could / choose to give birth, very few are professional Tour de France riders.

So I take your point, but perhaps it should not be over-made?
- LembitOpiksLovechild
  
  What’s the pain quotiant for being kicked in the testicles repeatedly for being sexist and unsympathetic to women??
http://profile.yahoo.com/QDMFX65KM5STSAFHAC4FOLFTO4 fran

There’s the Vagina monologues – they’re funny. However the idea of increased diversity in the LP is being over-egged to extend the metaphor. Whether male or female and regardless of ethnicity or nationality so many Labour MPs seem like wan clones of each other these days - and drawn from a self-perpetuating political class with sons aand daughters often replacing the previous generation and no doubt with career capital having being brought up in the “family business” for one or two generations. Yes they have ambition but often self ambition comes before party and party comes before social justice. It’s not as easily lampooned as the posh Tory boy Bullingdon narrative but neverrtheless the shooing in of candidates with family connections is Labour’s guilty secret. I know of at least three such legacies in and among Scottish Labour. If I were on a constituency selection panel I would look on family candidates wryly and reluctantly. It’s never good to be seen as a party of coronations no matter how disengaged many voters may be with the electoral process.
Amber_Star

Thank you, Emma!
Amber_Star

Thank you, Emma!
ColinAdkins

And your point is? I think this is feminist reductionism.

The case for greater representation/participation/voices for women is self-evident in my mind.

I just wonder if we are concerned about representation/diversity etc when are we are going to examine the fact that two institutions whose graduates constitute less than one percentage point of the adult population make up 25% of sitting MPs.
ColinAdkins

And your point is? I think this is feminist reductionism.

The case for greater representation/participation/voices for women is self-evident in my mind.

I just wonder if we are concerned about representation/diversity etc when are we are going to examine the fact that two institutions whose graduates constitute less than one percentage point of the adult population make up 25% of sitting MPs.

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