Why Does Sexism Towards Female Politicians Still Exist Regarding Their Appearance?
Seeing two of this week’s global headlines could have led you to believe that you had entered the Tardis and traveled 20 years into the past.
In one, the former prime minister of Japan told the country’s foreign minister that she “wasn’t that good looking” (he also repeatedly spelled her name incorrectly and added an ageist slur for good measure). Another featured a photohopped image of an Australian woman MP that was posted on a news channel, with the woman’s outfit made more revealing and her breasts appearing larger.
Both are depressing illustrations of how sexism still exists in our political structures, even in supposedly “developed” nations; however, the second story actually made me gasp out loud. How in the world are we still witnessing this kind of denigration of women in politics in the year of our Lord 2024? And why would anyone think that an MP’s chest needed to be augmented for a duck hunting news bulletin?
Georgie Purcell, a member of the Victorian upper house, tweeted, “I endured a lot yesterday [after the government rejected a proposed ban on duck hunting],” expressing her frustration with Nine News. However, it was not on my bingo card to have my body and attire photoshopped by a media outlet.
It’s hard to imagine a male MP experiencing this. Why is that the case?
She then shared side-by-side posts of the original image and the altered one that Nine News had used. Purcell is dressed in white in the first. In the latter, her clothing has been cropped to reveal a strip of midriff, and her breasts are definitely larger.
Hugh Nailon, the news director of the show, attempted to deflect criticism by claiming that Photoshop was to blame, saying, “Our graphics department sourced an online image of Georgie to use in our story on duck hunting.” The image was resized to meet our specifications, as is standard procedure.
This tells young girls and women in Victoria that even when you’re at the top of your game, people will still try to take advantage of your body.
However, the makers of Photoshop, Adobe Software, categorically denied any suggestion that the program changed things on its own. The spokesperson stated, “Any changes to this image would have required human intervention and approval.”
If Nine News would have just put up their hands and admitted that sex sells, I might almost respect them more. Purcell is a young, attractive, blond woman; it was obvious that the temptation to add a little more sex to her was too great to resist.
In a statement, Purcell said, “I’m not afraid to say yesterday was the worst I’ve had so far.” Sadly, women must additionally cope with the ongoing objectification and sexualization that results from having their photos stolen, altered, and created by artificial intelligence.
“Let me be clear: my male colleagues do not experience this.”
The underlying anger that women must still put up with this kind of denigration was evidently bubbling just beneath the surface, despite the attempt to laugh it off with statements like “For now, at least I know what I’d look like with a boob job and chiselled abs.”
The issue extends beyond photoshopped images as well. I will never forget the British broadsheet spread that featured a photo of Penny Mordaunt in a swimsuit as one of the possible candidates to lead the Tory Party in 2022. Naturally, all of her male coworkers were depicted in full clothing.
The remarks were dismissed by Yoko Kamikawa, the 70-year-old Japanese foreign minister (really, when will it ever end? ), whose appearance had been disparaged by her colleague. In response to Taro Aso’s comments, she told reporters, “I’m aware that there are many different opinions, and I appreciate any and all feedback.” She said that the best course of action was to continue her diplomatic work.
Women are trained to ignore things, brush them under the rug, keep their heads down, and carry on with their work. However, we ought not to. On the surface, ridiculous Photoshop errors and remarks about how “attractive” female politicians are might seem pretty innocuous. However, they are symptomatic of a deeper, pervasive disrespect for women that persists in all spheres of society.
Aso’s remarks came after he said in 2018 that there was “no such thing as the crime of sexual harassment.” Outdated beliefs have an impact on the real world. In 2024, shouldn’t we finally put an end to the focus on women’s appearance and instead pay attention to what they have to say?
