Ms Represented with Annabel Crabb is a documentary film (divided into four parts) which premiered on Australian television (ABC) in 2021.
The topic of this film is the history of female politicians in Australia, more precisely the history of female members of the Australian parliament.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writer and creator: Annabel Crabb
** Host and presenter: Annabel Crabb
** Director: Stamatia Maroupas
** Language: English
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 29 + 33 + 33 + 34 minutes
** Total run time = 129 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in this film.
Here are some names:
The Australian Labor Party
** Anne Aly (born 1967)
** Linda Burney (born 1957)
** Julia Gillard (born 1961)
** Emma Husar (born1980)
** Penny Wong (born 1968)
The Liberal Party
** Bronwyn Bishop (born 1942)
** Julie Bishop (born 1956)
** Amanda Vanstone (born 1952)
The Australian Democrats
** Natasha Stott Despoja (born 1969)
The Australian Greens
** Sarah Hanson-Young (born 1981)
As you can see, these persons represent different political parties as well as different generations.
Here is some background information about the history of women in Australian politics:
Australia became an independent country in 1901.
At first, only men were allowed to vote.
But the Commonwealth Franchise Act of 1902 granted most Australian men and women the right to vote and to stand in federal elections.
There was, however, one significant restriction: this right was granted to white men and women, not to persons of colour, including aboriginals.
The restriction against people of colour, including aboriginals, was abolished in 1962.
The decision to grant the female vote in 1902 was very progressive compared to other countries at the time.
In Denmark, the female vote was not granted until 1915; in the US, it was not granted until 1920; to mention just two examples.
Australian women had the right to vote and to run for public office. But this did not mean that Australian women were elected to public office.
In order to win a seat in parliament, it is necessary to be pre-selected (or nominated) by the political party in the district where you wish to run.
In order to be pre-selected (or nominated), you must be known in the local community and you must have some experience in political affairs.
How can a woman be nominated when she is not known in the local community and when she does not have any experience in political affairs?
For many years, no woman was nominated.
No woman won a seat in an Australian parliament.
The first time a woman won a seat in an Australian parliament was in 1921, when Edith Cowan (1861-1932) won an election.
But she won a seat in the parliament of Western Australia. She did not win a seat in the federal parliament in Canberra.
The first time a woman won a seat in the federal parliament was in 1943.
In that year, two women won a seat in the federal parliament:
Enid Lyons (1897-1981) won a set in the House of representatives, while Dorothy Tangney (1907-1985) won a seat in the Senate.
The female politicians who appear in this film are interviewed by Annabel Crabb, who is a well-known journalist and author in Australia.
When we watch the interviews, it is clear that Annabel Crabb is well-prepared for this task. She has studied the life and the career of each person who is interviewed.
She knows the major moments in the life of each woman who is interviewed. She is able to ask questions which are relevant for the story at hand.
What was the experience of these women when they entered politics? What happened to them? What - if anything - were these women able to accomplish, while they were working in politics?
The interviews are mixed with archive footage. In some cases, old clips recorded inside parliament. In other cases, old clips recorded outside parliament.
Here are the headlines of the four episodes:
# 1. Getting There
# 2. Being There
# 3. In the Room
# 4. The Numbers Game
When I watch the four episodes, I can see that there is a remarkable change as we are moving from episodes 1 and 2 to episodes 3 and 4.
In episodes 1 and 2, the conversation is about the time when the number of female politicians was very low. When the number of women in parliament could be counted on one or two hands.
In episodes 1 and 2, the women who are interviewed say the same thing about life in political affairs.
The women who are interviewed have the same experience in the world of politics:
** They are being ignored!
** They are (almost) invisible!
** Nobody listens to what they say!
** Nobody pays any attention to them!
These women represent different political parties and they are from different generations, but they all offer the same message when they are asked to talk about their first impression of life in parliament.
In episodes 3 and 4, the conversation is about the time when the number of female politicians had increased. When the number of women in parliament could no longer be counted on one or two hands.
Women were still a minority in politics, but the fraction of women in politics was going up from 5 to 10 percent and later to 15 percent of the total.
In episodes 3 and 4, the women who are interviewed no longer say the same thing.
The women who are interviewed no longer have the same message.
They talk about sexism; about a toxic environment in the federal parliament; and about sexual assault on women in politics. But their response to these issues is not the same.
According to members of the Labor Party, women are often victims of sexism in parliament.
But members of the Liberal Party say: do not use the word “victim.” This is not a good idea!
When figures show that women are under-represented in parliament, members of the Labor Party say: we need to introduce a quota system. We need affirmative action in order to increase the number of female members.
But members of the Liberal Party say: we do not want to set up a quota system. We do not think affirmative action is a good idea. Allocation of seats in parliament should be based on merit, not on a quota system:
** Give the seat to the best person!
** Do not give the seat to a person, just because this person is a woman!
When we get to the end of episode 4, we can see that there is a wide spectrum of opinion among the women who are interviewed in this film.
All women do not say the same thing.
All women do not have the same message.
Different politicians offer different solutions to these and other problems.
The chronology of women in Australian politics has several milestones:
1902 = most men and women are allowed to vote and to run for public office
1921 = a woman wins a seat in an Australian parliament, but not the federal parliament in Canberra
1943 = two women win seats in the federal parliament.
One woman wins a set in the lower chamber (the House of Representatives), while another woman wins a seat in the upper chamber (the Senate).
1962 = people of colour, including aboriginals, are allowed to vote and to run for public office.
Has Australia ever had a female prime minister?
The answer to this question is yes:
Julia Gillard, a member of the Australian Labor Party, was the Australian prime minister for three years:
2010-2013
Julia Gillard is interviewed in this film. When she is interviewed, she talks about her experience as the first female prime minister of Australia.
How did the male members of the Australian parliament respond to this unusual situation? Many of them were not happy to have a woman in the top job.
This began in 2010. But it seems the mind of many male politicians was dominated by values and ideas which were common in 1910.
Many male politicians feel a woman should be a wife and a mother. The primary duty of a woman is to take care of her children and to support her husband. In addition, a good woman should be a Christian woman.
Julia Gillard did not fit this old-fashioned image of the ideal woman. She failed on all accounts, because she was not married, she had no children, and she had explained that she was an atheist.
In 2005, five years before she became prime minister, Julia was interviewed in her home by the Sydney Morning Herald. During the interview a photo was taken.
The photo shows Julia in her kitchen. She is sitting in a chair next to a table on which there is a glass bowl. The bowl is empty.
When the interview with the photo was published, critics focused on the empty glass bowl and they used it to conduct a personal attack on her.
They said the empty glass bowl reveals the terrible truth about Julia Gillard:
** She is a cold woman
** Her life is empty
** She is a
selfless person
** She only cares about herself
She was described as "ambitious."
This word was not meant as a compliment.
A real woman would have a husband and children. A real women would not have an empty glass bowl. A real woman would have filled the bowl with fruit.
Julia Gillard and the empty glass bowl became a political topic in Australia!
What if the picture had shown a male politician?
Would he have been criticized in the same way?
Not very likely.
From 2007 to 2010, Kevin Rudd was prime minister, while Julia Gillard was deputy prime minister.
This arrangement was seen as proper:
(1) The prime minister was a man, while the deputy prime minister was a woman.
(2) The man was number one, while the woman was number two.
In 2010, things changed.
In that year, there were internal problems in the Labor Party. When the members voted, Kevin lost and Julia won. Now she was the prime minister.
The first female prime minister of Australia!
In a subsequent election, Labor did not get a good result. Labor did not have a majority by itself. Labor had to rely on support from some small parties (The Green party).
From the beginning her government was fragile, because there were internal divisions.
The opposition did everything they could to make life difficult for her government.
Male politicians are often criticized, but when this happens, it is usually because of political actions in the past or because of political plans for the future.
When Julia was prime minister, she was often criticized. What was the reason? Critics claimed she had a poor knowledge of fashion. She was criticized for wearing the wrong clothes!
How often has a male politician been criticized because his shirt or his jacket had the wrong colour?
Not very often.
The culmination of the nasty and vicious campaign against the first female prime minister was probably in 2011, when Tony Abbott, the leader of the opposition, gave a public speech outside parliament.
While speaking against Julia, Tony Abbott was surrounded by supporters who were shouting slogans against Julia while they were holding up posters with nasty slogans against Julia.
One poster describes Julia as a bitch.
Another poster says:
Ditch the Witch!
Tony Abbott did not mention these slogans. He never said he agreed with them. On the other hand, he did not say that they were wrong. He did not distance himself from this low level of political debate.
On 9 October 2012, Julia responded to Abbott in parliament when she delivered the so-called misogyny speech.
Being the first female prime minister of Australia was not an easy task.
What do reviewers say about this film?
On IMDb it has a rating of 84 percent which corresponds to a rating of 4.2 stars on Amazon.
Gilian Lewis writes about this film in Broad Agenda
(23 July 2021)
According to this review, Annabel Crabb and ABC have created “a powerful and important series about women in Australian politics.”
Many reviewers agree with this statement. One obvious example is a detailed review in The Canberra Times.
The Australian does not agree.
The website of this newspaper has the following announcement:
“Crabb’s new ABC program blatantly misrepresents Conservatives.”
[Please note: the review of The Australian is posted behind a paywall.]
I understand the numerous positive reviews and I agree with them.
I do not understand the negative review posted by The Australian.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
REFERENCES
# 1. Items available online
Blair Williams
“Expect sexism: a gender expert reads Julia Gillard's Women and Leadership,”
The Conversation
16 July 2020
TV.Cynic
“Ms Represented with Annabel Crabb,”
Media Spy
June 2021
Melissa Matheson
“ABC’s Ms Represented will ignite a rage in every ‘ambitious’ woman,”
Life Hacker
07 July 2021
Karen Hardy
“Annabel Crabb’s Ms Represented: a woman’s place is in the House,”
The Canberra Times
15 July 2021
# 2. Books
Woman Suffrage
By Audrey Oldfield
(1993)
Sex, Lies and Question Time
Edited by Kate Ellis
(2021)
Power Play:
Breaking Through Bias, Barriers and Boys’ Clubs
By Julia Banks
(2021)
Not Now! Not Ever!
Ten Years from the Misogyny Speech
By Julia Gillard
(2022)
Penny Wong: Passion and Principle
By Margaret Simons
(2023)
*****
Ms Represented
with Annabel Crabb
A documentary film
(four episodes)
(ABC)
(2021)
*****
Julia Gillard is sitting in her kitchen.
The empty glass bowl is on the table.
This photo was taken in 2005
during an interview with the
Sydney Morning Herald
*****
Tony Abbott,
leader of the opposition,
speaking at a political rally
outside parliament in 2011.
Behind Tony Abbott,
you can see the poster
which describes Julia as a bitch.
You can also see the poster which says:
Ditch the Witch!
*****
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