all female debate is a step backwards from equality

[ljwales]

LBC are going on about this historic debate. Wtf how is their sex even relevant?

Sorry can't paste on my android LBC To Host All-Female Election Debate

1
Sunday 5th April 2015

Four of the most senior female politicians in the country will do battle in a 90-minute debate on LBC this Thursday 9th April.

Nicky Morgan of the Conservative Party, Labour's Harriet Harman, Ukip's Suzanne Evans and Lynne Featherstone of the Liberal Democrats will take part in the debate.

LBC's award-winning presenter Iain Dale will host the event.

It's the first all-female broadcast debate of the election campaign and will see each politician address the key issues as well as facing tough questions from LBC listeners.

The groundbreaking event will take place at 7pm in LBC's brand new high definition studios and will last for 90 minutes.

lovely. Not every thought or conversation I have is on MN you know.

where's Natalie Bennett?

Men have benefited from positive discrimination in politics since, well, forever.

I can see why some of them might feel uneasy at being forced to relinquish some of that power in the interests of fairness.

historical wrongs can never be righted, especially not be repeating them in the other direction.

we need to be gender-blind: THAT is the target to aim for.

I don't care about the gender of politicians, or indeed how well they come across in a yankee-style shouting match. I want to know their planned policies should they be elected.

specialsubject - exactly!

However, while it is seen that issues like childcare, the NHS and education are seen as the only topics to engage and interest women, and no real debate about how and why women are disengaged in politics (if we are - which actually I doubt very much) then we are never going to have real equality in politics.

Personally, I care about the above issues - but not because I'm a woman, but because I care about preserving society and community. I also care about the deficit, the middle east situation, defence cuts and various other aspects of foreign and domestic policy.....

As long as an all female debate is a 'Man bites dog!!!' surprise reversal type story we are still flailing in the long grass of equal political representation.

I'd love to see a political panel made up of just women but talking about, y'know, general politics without them having to make a big song and dance about their gender or discuss childcare or whatever. Like it was just normal and the norm for women to be politicians and political discussions to be dominated by women. That would be nice.

we need to be gender-blind

The problem with being gender-blind is that it.means you can't see the structural sexism in our society.

But 2010 wasn't a specially selected male debate where they made a big song and a dance about the gender, the 3 leaders just happed to be male.

What next an Asian debeate, a ginger debate

Isn't it likely that this was planned and agreed back when the three female party leaders were being excluded from the leaders debate?

I wonder why they aren't part of this one - did they decline, or were they not asked?

We absolutely need more women in politics and public life. Also we need politicians of every party/gender/colour/race to discuss issues traditionally seen as 'women's issues' because currently they are undervalued and treated as piffle.

Take childcare for example, many working families, and particularly women attribute their ability to work to childcare. It's cost, availability and standards are all crucial to how successful that arrangement is. Without proper provisions, far fewer women (in particular, but not exclusively) would be able to work and this affects the economy. Yet childcare is never ever linked to the economy and is often seen as a issue beneath the realms of serious politics.

Also in the last ten years, women's representation has gone backwards. I absolutely urge you to read even the introduction to this report because it's shocking. www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/devolved-authorities/commission-wales/who-runs-wales-2014

We are so far from equality it's unreal.

Very interesting Lovelybranches.

Depressing to see how women's representation has fallen!

No it wasn't agreed a long time back, has only just been finalised.

It's extremely interesting that so many women see women debating an issue in the absence of men as a threat to men's standing in politics but never notice that we normally near from all men only. Curious blindness - lots of women have been socialised for the patriarchy so effectively.

Men's political primacy is not under threat. This is a novelty event and will not improve the representation of women at all so there's no need to fret.