Oh Joyous Days! ...Well, Sort Of.

Last week was a week to remember. Prime Minister Gillard – it’s going to take awhile before those three words roll off my tongue. Gillard’s move to the top brought a glimmer of hope into my tired soul, UNTIL I remembered how it had happened. Yes, this is a joyous day for Australia, but forevermore shall our first female Prime Minister be labeled a ‘ball buster.’ Perhaps this is an inevitability in the first instance. Most women in power are looked upon by the male sector of western society as a threat to the very foundations of our patriarchal existence.

I was sent into a further spiral of gloom after a casual catch-up with Facebook. There it was a group entitled “How can Julia Gillard run the country from her kitchen?” Bras of the 60’s just began to mend themselves back together. This Facebook group was one of many sexist groups that have brought me to an almost breaking point. What’s more disturbing is that the large majority of people who join these groups are women.

(Apparently sexism and bad spelling are unstoppable bum buddies)

They have really driven home for me just how much Australia is plagued with ‘behind closed doors’ or ‘tainted with hilarity’ kind of sexism. The kind of sexism I am referring to is usually the type embraced by women. These women are loud, boisterous, and tend to believe that telling their friend to “make me a sandwich bitch” is some form of empowerment.

Perhaps this is a subconscious, desperate cry from women to gain some control over these sexist remarks in the first place. Back in my high school days I would constantly be subjected to one of my best friends favourite catch phrases “suck my cock.” She adopted the saying purely because she felt if men could say it, then she should be able to as well.

All the same these lovely Facebook groups brought about the realization that Julia Gillard probably wouldn’t have made it as PM under any other circumstance. Still, the polls are looking up and Gillard currently holds the most popular vote. Maybe, there is hope for Australia yet.


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