October 2009 - "Choosing the best person for the job shouldn't be biased by gender"
While some believe there should be systems in place to allow for more female MPs, Denise Robertson explains why it's attitudes that really need to change
I've never
ever felt inferior to men and I'm quite sure women have a role
to play in running this country, at both local and national level,
but I'm sick of all this banging on about getting more women
into politics just because they're female.
To me that suggests that we should be included on the Parliamentary
and council benches to 'make it fair' and not because we
have the real merit I know we possess. All-women shortlists seem
demeaning to me because they suggest we aren't capable of
winning against male competition and must therefore be given a
clear field. I don't believe women need the opposition
eliminated before the race; we are perfectly capable of winning in
fair competition. But it must be fair competition and, if that is
to come about, the nation must adopt a whole new mindset.
Women are not necessarily gentler, more compassionate and tactful
than men but neither are they more woolly-headed, incapable of
decision and obsessed with appearance. After years and years of
listening to the private thoughts of men and women, I've come
to the conclusion that the sexes are much the same. Take away
centuries of conditioning that have coerced women into believing
their role is to be submissive and ornamental and men that their
role is dominance and you have two sexes that, biology and
physiology apart, think and feel much the same.
To read more from Denise Robertson join
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