Please find below a well-articulated argument which supports the need for my continued annual harassment of friends and family on International Women's Day. Whether it's comfortable to admit or not: every day in Canada, as in the rest of the world, when women dare to enter into a historically male-dominated forum and (gasp) demonstrate competence or (dare I say it?) excellence, they are treated differently. Badly. Because of their gender.
Lashing out at a person whose skill and determination threatens your sense of security is a childish reflex one should generally have developed the ability to repress after hitting puberty. Lashing out and attacking a skilled and driven person with such nationally-publicised accusations/character defamations as: "She whored herself out for power,"...well, there's a word for that.
Of course, I'm saddened that such blatant sexism is still commonplace --but I'm more sickened by the fact that its existence is largely denied.
Ambition isn't a dirty word, Belinda
Georgie Binks
CBC News Viewpoint
Lashing out at a person whose skill and determination threatens your sense of security is a childish reflex one should generally have developed the ability to repress after hitting puberty. Lashing out and attacking a skilled and driven person with such nationally-publicised accusations/character defamations as: "She whored herself out for power,"...well, there's a word for that.
Of course, I'm saddened that such blatant sexism is still commonplace --but I'm more sickened by the fact that its existence is largely denied.
Ambition isn't a dirty word, Belinda
Georgie Binks
CBC News Viewpoint
May 18, 2005
When Belinda Stronach hit the political scene in January of 2004, I winced. Although she had a high profile in the business world as CEO of auto parts giant Magna International Inc., she had little political experience other than her involvement in helping to unite the Reform and Progressive Conservative parties in 2003. Was it reasonable for her to be going after the top job when she hadn't paid her dues?
She certainly wasn't the first person to aspire to the top job without seeking election first. Look at Brian Mulroney, who went after the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives in 1976 without having tested his success with the electorate. In fact, he waited to be chosen leader in 1983 before going after a seat in the House of Commons.
Slowly, though, Stronach found her political feet, winning a seat in the House of Commons in the last election and then discovering, I imagine, that the Conservative party of today is certainly not the Progressive Conservative party of yesteryear.
The reasonable "Red Tories" of years gone by have been eclipsed by the righter-than-right-wing Reformers who now dominate the party. Maybe she hoped she could talk some sense of social conscience into them, and discovered that was impossible.
You can sympathize with her for waking up one day and feeling she was in the wrong party. With the Conservative party's aversion to anything that would benefit women – day care and reproductive freedom, for instance – and their continued attacks on homosexuals, how many women feel at home there?
It's not like women are storming the Conservative party to run for it anyway. In the last election, the Conservatives distinguished themselves as the party with the lowest percentage of female members at 12 per cent. The NDP, Bloc Québécois and Liberals all more than doubled that number.
The Conservatives seem to be taking it the way you would expect them to. Leader Stephen Harper paternalistically spoke about discussing the issue with his wife – the two grownups having a tete-a-tete about that troublesome "ambitious" girl.
It is laughable that Harper accuses Stronach of ambition when most politicians are ambitious. Being ambitious is what gets you ahead, male or female. It's no secret she's ambitious. She did, after all, pit herself against Harper for the job of leader. And when she was running Magna she guided the company to record sales and profits in her two years on the job. Yep, she's ambitious, but I guess that doesn't sit well with Harper and the missus.
Harper also managed to take shots at Stronach on a personal level saying, "If she has such a high opinion of [Conservative deputy leader] Peter MacKay, I would venture today after my discussion with him – she has an awfully tough way of conveying that ... Peter has taken this pretty hard, as you can imagine."
The intention of the remark was to take a jab at Stronach's recent romance with MacKay; it had no place when discussing a professional decision but is par for the course when a woman's choices are discussed in public.
As well, when Stronach talked about how big and complex Canada is, Harper laughed that he didn't think she knew much about "complexities" – the implication, of course, that she's a dumb blonde.
Others Conservatives managed to quickly show their true colours as well, and may be regretting today that microphones were anywhere near them when they heard the news. Ontario Conservative legislature member Bob Runciman told reporters, "She sort of defined herself as something of a dipstick, an attractive one, but still a dipstick."
Tony Abbott, a Conservative MLA from Alberta and an Evangelical Christian minister said, "She whored herself out for power." Maurice Vellacott, a Tory MP from Saskatoon said, "Some people prostitute themselves for different costs and different prizes. She sold out for a cabinet position." Yes, and those were the guys on her side.
When politicians fight there is nothing dirtier – it's like a feeding frenzy of vampires. Does anyone remember the attacks on John Diefenbaker when he was ousted as leader? I would rather watch a bunch of hockey players in the NHL beat each other up than listen to politicians. They throw the word "whore" around so much when referring to their enemies, I expect prostitutes are going to sue politicians pretty soon for implying they have anything in common.
Stronach on the other hand took the high road. Although she said in a very general way that she did not feel Harper was "truly sensitive to the needs of each part of the country" she refused to dirty herself with mudslinging. I watched several interviews with her where journalists tried to lead her down that path and she refused to go.
While I don't feel comfortable in terms of principles with either party Stronach has allied herself with, I think she is a pretty brave woman and I think she has cut herself a great deal. She has done what most men would do: put her ambitions first instead of her heart, and gone for the gold. Was she supposed to stay in the Conservative party because she was dating Peter MacKay?
Maybe MacKay will cross the floor – who knows? Or maybe they will continue to see each other and agree to disagree on how to run the country. Or maybe it's just really none of our business and not really worth anyone's scrutiny. (MacKay was the only Conservative who showed any class saying, "I have a lot of affection for her family, her kids in particular, and so she did what she felt she had to do, and I wish her happiness.")
Stronach has a huge job ahead of her as minister of human resources. The biggest part of it will be to oversee the implementation of the Gomery inquiry's recommendations. No one in this country could possibly want that job, could they?
Or maybe it's just the perfect challenge for an ambitious woman.
When Belinda Stronach hit the political scene in January of 2004, I winced. Although she had a high profile in the business world as CEO of auto parts giant Magna International Inc., she had little political experience other than her involvement in helping to unite the Reform and Progressive Conservative parties in 2003. Was it reasonable for her to be going after the top job when she hadn't paid her dues?
She certainly wasn't the first person to aspire to the top job without seeking election first. Look at Brian Mulroney, who went after the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives in 1976 without having tested his success with the electorate. In fact, he waited to be chosen leader in 1983 before going after a seat in the House of Commons.
Slowly, though, Stronach found her political feet, winning a seat in the House of Commons in the last election and then discovering, I imagine, that the Conservative party of today is certainly not the Progressive Conservative party of yesteryear.
The reasonable "Red Tories" of years gone by have been eclipsed by the righter-than-right-wing Reformers who now dominate the party. Maybe she hoped she could talk some sense of social conscience into them, and discovered that was impossible.
You can sympathize with her for waking up one day and feeling she was in the wrong party. With the Conservative party's aversion to anything that would benefit women – day care and reproductive freedom, for instance – and their continued attacks on homosexuals, how many women feel at home there?
It's not like women are storming the Conservative party to run for it anyway. In the last election, the Conservatives distinguished themselves as the party with the lowest percentage of female members at 12 per cent. The NDP, Bloc Québécois and Liberals all more than doubled that number.
The Conservatives seem to be taking it the way you would expect them to. Leader Stephen Harper paternalistically spoke about discussing the issue with his wife – the two grownups having a tete-a-tete about that troublesome "ambitious" girl.
It is laughable that Harper accuses Stronach of ambition when most politicians are ambitious. Being ambitious is what gets you ahead, male or female. It's no secret she's ambitious. She did, after all, pit herself against Harper for the job of leader. And when she was running Magna she guided the company to record sales and profits in her two years on the job. Yep, she's ambitious, but I guess that doesn't sit well with Harper and the missus.
Harper also managed to take shots at Stronach on a personal level saying, "If she has such a high opinion of [Conservative deputy leader] Peter MacKay, I would venture today after my discussion with him – she has an awfully tough way of conveying that ... Peter has taken this pretty hard, as you can imagine."
The intention of the remark was to take a jab at Stronach's recent romance with MacKay; it had no place when discussing a professional decision but is par for the course when a woman's choices are discussed in public.
As well, when Stronach talked about how big and complex Canada is, Harper laughed that he didn't think she knew much about "complexities" – the implication, of course, that she's a dumb blonde.
Others Conservatives managed to quickly show their true colours as well, and may be regretting today that microphones were anywhere near them when they heard the news. Ontario Conservative legislature member Bob Runciman told reporters, "She sort of defined herself as something of a dipstick, an attractive one, but still a dipstick."
Tony Abbott, a Conservative MLA from Alberta and an Evangelical Christian minister said, "She whored herself out for power." Maurice Vellacott, a Tory MP from Saskatoon said, "Some people prostitute themselves for different costs and different prizes. She sold out for a cabinet position." Yes, and those were the guys on her side.
When politicians fight there is nothing dirtier – it's like a feeding frenzy of vampires. Does anyone remember the attacks on John Diefenbaker when he was ousted as leader? I would rather watch a bunch of hockey players in the NHL beat each other up than listen to politicians. They throw the word "whore" around so much when referring to their enemies, I expect prostitutes are going to sue politicians pretty soon for implying they have anything in common.
Stronach on the other hand took the high road. Although she said in a very general way that she did not feel Harper was "truly sensitive to the needs of each part of the country" she refused to dirty herself with mudslinging. I watched several interviews with her where journalists tried to lead her down that path and she refused to go.
While I don't feel comfortable in terms of principles with either party Stronach has allied herself with, I think she is a pretty brave woman and I think she has cut herself a great deal. She has done what most men would do: put her ambitions first instead of her heart, and gone for the gold. Was she supposed to stay in the Conservative party because she was dating Peter MacKay?
Maybe MacKay will cross the floor – who knows? Or maybe they will continue to see each other and agree to disagree on how to run the country. Or maybe it's just really none of our business and not really worth anyone's scrutiny. (MacKay was the only Conservative who showed any class saying, "I have a lot of affection for her family, her kids in particular, and so she did what she felt she had to do, and I wish her happiness.")
Stronach has a huge job ahead of her as minister of human resources. The biggest part of it will be to oversee the implementation of the Gomery inquiry's recommendations. No one in this country could possibly want that job, could they?
Or maybe it's just the perfect challenge for an ambitious woman.