Criticism of female politicians.

[HangingInAGruffaloStance]

Being Scottish, I am enjoying having a female first minister (Nicola Sturgeon) and a 50/50 gender split cabinet. One of the opposition leaders (Ruth Davidson- Tory) is not only female but also gay and out. Until recently Labour also had a female leader. So lots positive in Scottish politics. When my DD (3.5) asked who NS is (she was on tv) I did enjoy telling her she is "the boss".

I am interested in how NS is scrutinised. She isn't very glamorous and looks like she has hard to manage hair, this seems to get a lot of attention. She is a 44yo former solicitor and most senior politician in Scotland but gets referred to as a "wee lassie". NS also doesn't have kids, which isn't referred to a lot, but does get examined more than it might be for a male politician. For example Lorraine Kelly questioned her sympathetically about facing up to sexism in politics, then quizzed her about not having kids.

Don't know what my point is, but interested in others views/observations.

[caroldecker]

Personally, reading The Times, I have not seen her (or any other) politician appearance mentioned. It appears to only be some media, so stop supporting them by reading them.
For such a hated paper, the Mail appears to be read by a large number of women and MNers.

[JohnFarleysRuskin]

I also haven't seen her appearance mentioned and indeed had no thoughts on it- til now!

It was great to see three women leaders on the debate the other day.

[LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett]

Our local paper allowed a reader comment about how 'barren Sturgeon' had no right to be nannying other people's children which I thought was an awful comment to make - I don't think it would have been mentioned at all wrt a male politician.

[JohnFarleysRuskin]

That is awful. I remember Julia Gillard - the ex Australian PM getting loads of stick for that.

[JohnFarleysRuskin]

Of course if they have children, then they are a disgrace for leaving them with someone else etc, etc.

[TeiTetua]

Yonic enjoyed an article which makes fun of male politicians for wearing the same boring suits (could be like the Australian TV presenter, no change in a whole year). But if any of those men wore anything different, surely the ridicule would be a hundred times greater! Men have easy rules to follow, but they are very rigid. Whereas for women, there's never a completely right answer.

[YonicScrewdriver]

Tei

The article was satirising the common focus on the outfits of female politicians and how uncommon it was to do the same for male politicians. It wasn't criticising the male politicians.

[TeiTetua]

Well... you can read it as a satire on the common focus on women's clothing and grooming. But it equally works as another satire on men who all dress the same, implying they must be lacking in any originality. No doubt Nicola Sturgeon gets talked about in the Fashion & Beauty section of Mumsnet, because there's always something to say about a woman based on surface presentation, but never anything equivalent for a man, and if there were, it would be some comment about how his uniform was out of order. This is an area where we seem to be locked into continuing very different expectations for women and men, with no escape for anyone.

[Amethyst24]

I'm not Scottish and don't agree with NS's politics (apart from the obvious easy-to-agree-with stuff) but I thought she was outstanding in the leaders' debate and she looks great. Not too try-hard, not trying to look like a man, just professional and tidy and attractive. She nailed that debate and if I were an SNP voter I would be feeling very happy with my choice.

[violetwellies]

I had no idea what you were talking about as I don't watch TV / read the Mail. So I Googled pics. There's nothing wrong with the way the woman looks. Clean and suited, and not that it is at all relevant, better looking than about 75% of politicians.
The fact that we would even begin to discuss her appearance suggests it's a feminist issue.

[ReallyBadParty]

Well, I kind of agree, but almost prefer that to the amazingly patronising "oh, the women on the debate were good, weren't they..", almost with an air of amazement that the women might not be hopeless after all.

I heard Mark Steel (I think) on the Newsquiz saying how good the women were and then something about the Plaid Cymru leader being just like a mum, etc...

So, I don't like the criticism you describe, but I also dislike this kind of praise.

I will be happy when it's politics that are discussed in the media rather than the sex of politicians.

[HangingInAGruffaloStance]

Agreed ReallyBad.

Should it have been a big shock that Nicola Sturgeon handled the debate well? She has the most government experience of anyone in the debate but gets talked about like she made it onto it with a golden ticket found in a Tunnocks Caramel Wafer.

[DunelmDoris]

Very much agree with the distaste that women in politics warrant comments in surprised tones when they do well.

Nicola Sturgeon has a wealth of leadership and presentation experience so it was no surprise to me that she handled the debate smoothly. She came over with exactly the same assured, confident tone she always has. But for much of the UK it's the first time they've seen her and the other leaders of minority parties in action and the tone of the commentary is very much shock and surprise at the fact that they weren't falteringly pathetic. And I'm sure that wouldn't have been the case had the leaders been male.

I'm so delighted that we've got a properly representative cabinet though :) more women in politics means better politics :)

[Rafterplease]

I dunno. Nick Clegg got the same sort of patronising wonder last time. It's to do with then being new to most viewers, I reckon.

[PuffinsAreFictitious]

Not sure anyone commented about how mumsy Nick Clegg looked, or what the male alternative to mumsy would even be.

[YonicScrewdriver]

Folksy?

[PuffinsAreFictitious]

I now have a mental image of Clegg wearing jeans at a hoe down. It's fairly disturbing.

[violetwellies]

Thanks for that Puffins, I too am now suffering the same disease. It was a mental image I could have well done without.

[YonicScrewdriver]

[reni1]

It is so expected to judge women on their looks, Angela Merkel used to get loads of it, her hair, her weight, the colour of her suits. Now she has become such an institution the press kind of forget she's a woman. I despair to see the same shit for Sturgeon and Clinton now.

[StillLostAtTheStation]

I was discussing Sturgeon last night with my son and husband. Husband was telling us about a female colleague of his who had been on a rant about how much she dislikes Sturgeon and one of the things she mentioned as the final straw is Sturgeon has ruined the dress and bracelet length jacket combination for work wear.

My son thought this was a terrible thing to say and irrelevant to Sturgeon's policies or performance. As it is the StillLost household can find plenty of reasons to dislike Sturgeon without it getting personal and my son was of course right (although I see where the colleague was coming from)

[applecatchers36]

I think women are in general judged more for appearance than abilities
Ergo female politicians get comments about for example wardrobe choices that men don't ....am thinking about Teresa May and her noteworthy' 'leopard print shoes' who gives a dam...but yes also more scrutiny of their personal lives I.e. Un maternal Julia Gillard Australian PM living with a 'hairdresser' I cannot imagine these things being reported about a male politician....

[IntrinsicFieldSubtractor]

I was feeling mildly irritated about the comments on her appearance until I realised that I frequently have unflattering thoughts about David Cameron's looks. That's a double standard surely, but I just can't convince myself it's all that wrong to take the piss out of David Cameron for having a face like a boiled sausage Maybe politicians have so much more power (potentially at least) than us mere mortals that it feels like 'punching up' regardless?