Harper’s Gendered Attack on Justin Trudeau

Recent print attack ad against Justin Trudeau by the Conservatives.

by Matt Moir. Matt is a writer based in Toronto.

Michelle Rempel rolled her eyes and paused, choosing her words carefully.

Standing in the lobby outside the House of Commons, the Conservative MP for Calgary Centre had just been informed that she had been voted Sexiest Female MP in an Ottawa newspaper’s annual poll.

“I get the opportunity to speak to a lot of women’s groups about encouraging women to run for office, and about women’s leadership issues and the number one thing I always say is women should be judged and evaluated by their merit.”

If only her boss would heed her message.

Her Conservative Party’s negative ad campaign against Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau may, as some have claimed, be successfully rallying the Tory base, and thus helping the party fill its coffers. But it’s also alienating a section of the electorate vital to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chances of winning another majority government: female voters.

Trudeau’s poll numbers are overwhelmingly positive among women. A recent Harris/Decima poll found that 61% of Canadian women view Trudeau favorably, whereas Harper is viewed favorably by only 37% of women.

Some commentators attribute this support for Trudeau to the fact that women in Canada traditionally are more supportive of left-leaning politicians than conservative ones.

Others say that women are drawn to the Liberal leader’s charisma and good looks- he was, after all, voted sexiest MP in The Hill Times’ annual survey.

What shouldn’t be discounted, though – and what probably should be explored further – is that Canadian women might be able to identify with the young MP, and the nature of the personal attack ads he’s had to endure.

Immediately after Trudeau won his party’s leadership race, the Tories unleashed a torrent of ads attacking the newly minted Liberal leader. This is nothing new, of course. The Conservatives are well versed in the art of the political takedown; just ask Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff. But what makes the ‘Justin’ ads different is the unseemly gender baiting aspect to them. Read more

Posted on May 13, 2013 by jarrahpenguin in Can-Con, Feminism, Politics Leave a comment

Get Ready to Close the Gender Gap…in 2240

“Canada’s gender gap 1993-2012″ from “Closing Canada’s Gender Gap

by Jarrah Hodge

A new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has given Canada a reality check: our progress on reducing the economic and political gender gap in the country is stalled to the point that it will take us over two centuries at the current rate to achieve gender equality.

CCPA Research Associate Kate McInturff used a method developed by the World Economic Forum to calculate our score in the areas of health, education, economics and politics. On the plus side, our score on education and health care are nearly perfect, but our scores for economic opportunity and participation and political representation are significantly lower.

It’s a disconnect that might not seem to make sense; you’d think the high levels of women’s educational attainment would mean more political and economic success. However, McInturff points out “ the income gap is actually greater for women with university or college degrees than it is for those with high school diplomas. Having a university degree means a higher level of income overall, yes, but it also means facing a higher level of wage discrimination.”

An even bigger drag on Canada’s overall gender equality score is the lack of women in public office and top corporate management roles. In these areas together, men outnumber women two to one. In the report, McInturff says while the fact that women take on a far greater share of childcare and housework in heterosexual families is a factor, women choosing to stay home with the kids can’t account for the full discrepancy: “Certainly there are women (and men) who are in an economic position to work less in order to spend more time with their families. But the truth is, most Canadian families don’t earn enough to allow one or more family members to choose not to work. And whether by choice or necessity, 70% of all mothers with children under the age of six are working parents.”

So we have a situation where we just don’t have a critical mass of women at the top. Only one of Canada’s top 100 CEOs is a woman and despite our record number of women Premiers, women still make up only about 25% of members in provincial legislatures. The number’s about the same federally, with even fewer women in the government caucus (about 17%). Read more

Posted on April 25, 2013 by jarrahpenguin in Can-Con, Feminism, Politics Leave a comment

Are Canadian Women Politicians “Having a Moment”?

New Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

Gender Focus welcomes new contributor Megan Stanley. Megan is a Masters student in the Clayton H. Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management at Carleton University. She loves most things political and is happy to now call Ottawa home.

A brief scan of the headlines of various news stories over the past month suggests Canadian women are having quite a moment in politics. Largely prompted by the recent election of Kathleen Wynne in January as leader of the Ontario Liberal party, almost every national media outlet has produced a piece contributing to the growing public discussion on the representation of women in Canadian politics.

Even former Prime Minister Kim Campbell chimed in with an op-ed in the Globe & Mail calling for the establishment of gender parity in Parliament. According to the narrative created by these media stories, women politicians represent a new wave of game-changers on the Canadian political scene and their recent successes may signify shifts in our society’s attitudes toward gender and politics. Not too shabby.

With each story, the current state of the nation’s political affairs is reiterated: Canada currently boasts six female Premiers, some of whom govern provinces that are seen as key “have” regions in the Canadian economy. The recent Ontario Liberal leadership race, a critical election for the province, was dominated by two women candidates. The current federal Liberal leadership race features four accomplished women out of the total nine candidates seeking to change the face and direction of the party.

However, even considering these recent accomplishments, women remain vastly underrepresented in Parliament and provincial/territorial legislatures. Women comprise only 25% of MPs in Canada’s Parliament as of 2011, falling short of the critical mass (defined by the UN as 30%) needed to have a visible influence on legislation and political culture.

These facts and figures are consistently cited in both public and academic discussions, highlighting the dismal state of affairs for women in politics and calling for gender parity in all levels of government.

So, what’s the problem? Isn’t it a positive step forward for the Canadian public to recognize and respond to the need for a national discussion on women’s political underrepresentation? If gender parity in legislative bodies is the ultimate goal, doesn’t recognition and discussion of the problem help to reach it? Read more

Posted on February 21, 2013 by jarrahpenguin in Can-Con, Feminism, Politics Leave a comment

FFFF: Binders Full of Women

More than one video today because there have been a whole bunch of ones recently mocking Mitt Romney’s politics on women’s issues, particularly his recent debate comment around “binders full of women.” That one made Jonathan Mann’s Song of the Day this past Tuesday:

Here’s Slate News on why the comment resonated:

Another musical homage by Eytan and the Embassy:

And finally another great video that’s been going around, not on the binders comment but on Romney’s comment that it’d be easier for him to get elected if he was Latino. Rosie Perez sets Mitt straight:

-Jarrah

Posted on October 19, 2012 by jarrahpenguin in Feminism, FFFF Leave a comment

What to Make of Barbie’s Presidential Run

It’s official. Barbie has launched her candidacy for US President. The “I Can Be” President Barbie is an initiative between Mattel and the White House Project, a multi-partisan U.S organization promotes women’s leadership.

At first glance, I wasn’t sure what to think of this partnership. I am passionate about increasing women’s representation in politics, but I can list off a number of serious critiques of Barbie.

As was aptly pointed out in a blog post I read: “She [Barbie] is a timeless icon that continues to influence young girls perception of ideal beauty, a model to emulate. But with her alien measurements, Caucasian features, ivory skin, blond hair, and unnaturally thin body… how can anyone measure up?”

I would also add that for black children, Barbie’s long silky hair promotes an ideal that isn’t natural – something children’s shows and products are only recently starting to wake up to. Take Sesame Street’s “I love my hair” puppet, for example.

Nonetheless, I had a Barbie collection as a child – so did all of my female friends – and this hasn’t changed for children today. Barbie remains one of the most popular children’s products on the market. Read more

Posted on April 11, 2012 by jarrahpenguin in Feminism, Pop Culture Leave a comment

Iron Lady Review

I had a chance to see an advanced screening of Iron Lady, a new film starring Meryl Streep which follows the life of former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. And I liked it!

While Meryl Streep`s performance has been widely praised, the film itself has been criticized for being short on substance and long on sentimentality.

As a progressive, I say be prepared for disparaging (and predictable) references to trade unions, socialists, the poor, etc. However, I thought Meryl Streep`s portrayal of Thatcher was Oscar-worthy, and found the film’s strength to be in its depiction of how Thatcher broke through the gender barriers to become Britain’s first female Prime Minister.

Indeed, when Thatcher became Prime Minister, women made up only 3% of government. So it’s no surprise that in the film Thatcher is often shown flanked by male politicians and advisors. In fact, I noticed very few female roles in the film – other than her daughter, service staff and protestors & supporters in crowds. Watching, you do get a sense of how difficult it must have been for Thatcher as someone who always felt more comfortable with men, but at the same time was never part of the old boys club.

The film also does a good job of covering of many of the pressing challenges Thatcher faced as a female MP, including: work-family balance; the tendency for there to be an unfair focus on looks and appearance rather than the issues; the imposter complex which is a belief that one doesn’t have what it takes to get to the top; and of course sexist heckling and name calling during Question Period sessions. The film is set in the 1970/80s but all sound familiar to me!

But what was surprising, and glaringly absent from trailers, is that a great deal of the film focuses on Thatcher life in the present; long after her days as Britain’s Iron Lady. I won’t say much more, other than while watching I often found myself wondering what Margaret Thatcher herself (who is still alive) thought of the portrayal of her later years.

Iron Lady opens everywhere on Friday January 13th. Check it out!

-E. Cain

Posted on January 13, 2012 by jarrahpenguin in Feminism, Pop Culture 5 Comments

Women in House: A Feel-Good Story about Youth and Politics

If I may, I would like to take this opportunity to gush about a wonderful program at McGill University called Women in House.

This nonpartisan, student-led initiative was started in 2001 to promote women’s representation in politics and give female students the unique opportunity to gain an inside look into the lives of female politicians in government.

It offers a two-day, fully-subsidized trip to Ottawa, during which participants take a tour of Parliament, hear individual speakers and panel discussions, and shadow a female MP or Senator. For those involved, it’s truly a memorable experience.

This year’s program took place in November, and there was much to celebrate in the lead up. For starters, McGill now has a female president of its students’ society, Maggie Knight – a rare occurrence as there have been only 10 female presidents in over 100 years. In addition, who can forget the four McGill students elected to Parliament last May, two of which are Women in House alumni – Mylène Freeman and Charmaine Borg.

This year’s program also had an unprecedented 50 young women participate (selected from a pool of 150 applicants) – that’s up from 14 participants during the first trip in 2001. These young women definitely created a buzz on Parliament Hill with their enthusiasm and eagerness to learn about women in Canadian politics.

On Twitter, there were supportive tweets from Nycole Turmel, Elizabeth May, Carolyn Bennett, Susan Delacourt, Equal Voice and many others. Conservative MP Susan Truppe took her student shadow on CTV’s Power Play to promote the program. And NDP MP Mylène Freeman delivered a rousing statement in Parliament, welcoming participants to the House and reflecting on her own experiences with the program.

As a former participant and coordinator of Women in House – I am beyond thrilled to watch this program continue to grow and attract attention. Congrats to this years’ group – onwards and upwards ladies!

-E. Cain

For a more detailed look, Chi Nguyen, co-founder of Women in House wrote her dissertation on the program. Check it out here.

In other exciting news, McGill Women in House is looking to expand the program. If you are interested in starting a chapter in your university, you can find out more information here.

Posted on November 23, 2011 by jarrahpenguin in Can-Con, Feminism, Politics 1 Comment

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