Australia has a new prime minister. Julia Gillard (AKA “The
ranga”) was given the heave-ho on Wednesday night and Kevin Rudd is the new
leader of the Labor Party. With an election coming up in September and Gillard’s
approval ratings in the toilet, it seems as though this was not too big of a
surprise. She made a last ditch effort to soften her image with this bizarre photo
shoot for Women’s Weekly, in which she can be seen knitting a gift for the
royal baby due next month.
Am I wrong to feel like this is total bullshit? This is the same woman who gave an impassioned speech in front of Parliament about rampant sexism in politics, and here she is pandering to the very people she criticized I feel like
I’m stuck in a time warp back to the 1950s or something. Is this really what a female
national leader thinks she has to do to get the public on her side? Awful photo shoot aside, I never
quite understood why people disliked Julia Gillard so much. Perhaps the manner
in which she came to power is partly to blame; by going behind Rudd’s back and
taking the PM’s position, which is decidedly unladylike. I certainly don’t envy
her the job of being the first female PM, and I hope it’s a little easier for
the ones who come after her.
