Men of quality don't fear equality
A Melbourne brothel owner helped fund a gutter level sexist attack on Victoria's Premier, hiring a truck to drive around the street bearing a huge sign depicting Jacinta Allan dressed as a witch, with the words "ditch the witch". There is nothing clever about this slogan; it has been used before on Australia's only woman Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.
The purpose of these campaigns is to mock and belittle powerful women, especially powerful middle aged or older women. All women are being given the message that if you come forward and show your worth, in a non-traditional field, you will be shamed as a woman and compared to an ugly, fearful stereotype.
This attack is not happening in a vacuum. Older people have grown up in a world where almost all power resided with men. Some boys and men fear recent advances in women's rights and are determined to drag women down so they can feel superior. But anyone who needs to put others down has low self esteem and has nothing to feel superior about.
Many decent women and men, on both sides of politics, have come forward to condemn this gutter level sexism. However far right Senator Pauline Hanson has commented, "Suck it up princess". She thinks this is fair because she has also been called a witch. But women leaders should be lifting each other up, rather than telling other women to continue putting up with sexist stereotyping. In any case, Pauline Hanson won't speak to the Guardian newspaper, because they publish unflattering photos of her, so who is being a princess?
As a woman with inborn Autistic mathematical abilities, I have also experienced sexist stereotyping. I have been called a "bloody bitch", "one of those women's libbers", and had people trying to police me into more "feminine" interests, dress styles and studies. Growing up, I was told that I would, or should, be over-taken by boys in STEM fields of study because of hormones, that women who excel in maths are unattractive or threatening to men, will be "left on the shelf" and don't know how to loosen up and enjoy themselves.
Sadly, some of this stereotyping continues into the modern era and I need to choose who I keep company with, to avoid toxic attitudes. But none of this has discouraged me from tutoring maths and doing activism and advocacy. It is disappointing that "ditch the witch" has made a come back, but it is heartening to see a stronger response from the many decent women and men from both sides of politics.
Men of quality don't fear equality.
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