Malcolm Gladwell tokens, pariahs, and pioneers and Julia Gillard
This is a very interesting discussion around gender by Journalist Malcolm Gladwell in New York.
A quick overview of Malcolm Gladwell from Wikipedia as follows:
Malcolm T. Gladwell, CM (born September 3, 1963) is a Canadian journalist, bestselling author, and speaker.[1] He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He has written five books, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (2000), Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), Outliers: The Story of Success (2008), What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures (2009), a collection of his journalism, and David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (2013). All five books were on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Gladwell’s books and articles often deal with the unexpected implications of research in the social sciences and make frequent and extended use of academic work, particularly in the areas of sociology, psychology, and social psychology. Gladwell was appointed to the Order of Canada on June 30, 2011.[2]
I know as a young girl I got very early that men were dominant and females were seen as less. It was evident that males invented engineering and were responsible for most things in society, women were seen as mothers, sewing, typing and clerks. Yet as a young woman I would skateboard when no other females would, I was the first female to ride a perspex half pipe in the southern hemisphere. I also saw myself as a hippy and would wear a happy jacket at 15. I didn’t realise I was resonating with peace at the time, instead liking the relaxed image of hippies and flower power. I was shunted down the track of typing rather than science, which I realised at college was an interest. I hated typing, sitting and just copying someone else’s work. I recall working at the City of London with an Economics degree typing and trying to find a space to write poetry. I am a poet, no-one encouraged that. I felt so intensely that my potential was not seen and yet internally I felt so passionate about so many things. I saw clearly that no-one cared what I desired and didn’t encourage me to be better than I am. So I could see myself floundering as a typist for the rest of my life. Thankfully I got RSI (repetitive strain injury) which forced me to go to university. I was the first in my family to study. I was the first to travel overseas and the first to work in 400 companies. I was inspired to become a clown which is gender neutral. I found that interesting as I was able to break out of female roles, which I love. When I was with my partner for 11 years who did not play out the male stereotype, he allowed me to be myself and free. We both did the housework and shopping. He shared with me. I realised years later that I didn’t feel myself a woman, but felt universal. I only noticed being female when men were attracted or in the clerical/secretarial area, it was such a nurturing job. I never liked making coffee for men, I would like them to make one for me. Ha ha.
I was interested to learn from Malcolm Gladwell’s lecture in New York that there were attitudes that believed women couldn’t be artists in 1879. He speak of Elizabeth Thompson as a great artist who experienced discrimination because she was a woman. He speaks of insiders and outsides, he calls the outsider a pariah. He uses the example of Jackie Robinson as a black baseman in baseball. Once the door opens it floods open. He is then a pioneer. He speaks of it as a narrative of progress. he mentions the civil rights movement, suffragettes and so on. Helen Richie was the first pilot in 1944, people looked at her and saw her as a pioneer. Only 7% of pilots today are females, so he saw the door closing. He claims later in the talk that men and women are not better than each other, that women get categorised and if part of a smaller minority you become scrutinised. First through the door get a harder time. I would draw the attention of Australians to watch his discourse around how Julia Gillard was treated as Prime Minister in Australia (25:38 on video). He saw Australia as socially progressive and comments on Julia Gillard being the first female Prime Minister. She was subjected to a level of vitriole that has not been equalled in any western country. Her physical clothes, her body, tone of her voice and legitimacy of her rule and personality were scrutinised. He points to the sexual cartoons circulated by the opposition e.g. ditch the witch, newspapers – called her Julia (not referred to a Head of State), CEO of a major company called her an ‘unproductive old cow’. One restaurant offered offered on the menu Julia Gillard Kentucky Fried Quail – small breasts, huge thighs and a big red box. He speaks of Alan Jones (2UE radio host) who said when her father died that he would have ‘he must have died of shame’, the leader of the opposition then says that her government should die of shame. He says if she had been a man it wouldn’t have happened. After her leaving speech she was accused on igniting gender wars. Julia was a highly capable politician. They couldn’t think of her as a politician, they saw her as a female politician, as a token. After months of abuse, she says she is confident that it will be easier for the next woman and the next woman after that etc. She was indeed a pioneer and in my view she made the sexism visible, it was really obvious to me as a woman just how backward some men can be. Yet women will continue on and I think they are powerful, which is secretly what men fear.
Here is the lecture below. It is recommended viewing to help people understand why feminism arose. Of course what that means in equal rights politically, it has nothing to do with female dominance. The definition is: Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, cultural, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. I hope you will become a feminist, I have had wonderful men in my life who were but had never known the word.