So what if Michaelia Cash doesn't call herself a feminist?
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Version 0 of 1. There was a lot of rejoicing when the minister for women was named as an actual woman. Just as toddlers are praised for eating their food instead of throwing it across the wall, the newly minted prime minister was praised for appointing Michaelia Cash as the minister for a gender of which she, along with 50% of the population, is a member. For some though, that was not enough. Cash may be a woman but she is not a self-proclaimed feminist. Related: Six out of 12 new domestic violence hubs will be in regional Australia “I have never been someone who labels herself,” she told Fairfax Media last year. “In terms of feminism, I’ve never been someone who really associates with that movement. That movement was a set of ideologies from many, many decades ago now.” Across social media there were admonishments and expressions of shame about this. Self acclaimed feminist and publisher of the Mamamia Women’s Network, Mia Freedman, declared “baby steps” when noting that the minister for women, although a woman, did not call herself a feminist. But just as going to mass doesn’t make you a good Christian, or standing in a garage doesn’t make you a car, calling yourself a feminist does not automatically make you good for women. It’s what you actually do that matters. After all, our previous minister for women called himself a feminist and originally appointed just one woman to cabinet. People call themselves feminists while running publications that make women feel like freaks and insidiously question their life decisions. As the minister assisting the prime minister, Cash played a significant role in the development of the $100m domestic violence package which Malcolm Turnbull got plenty of credit for. But the deal was in the works long before his anointment. The package itself is not perfect, and the funding cuts to domestic violence shelters have not been restored but $100m for domestic violence funding would have been inconceivable even five years ago. Cash deserves credit. She is also the minister for employment but will not be at the government’s economic reform meeting today. “I was absolutely invited, but I had a commitment in relation to domestic violence, which I have not been able to change,” she told ABC’s AM program on Wednesday. “So whilst I have been invited to be there, my commitment to undertake a forum on domestic violence has had to be given precedence to.” Conservative women in general shy away from the term feminist in the same way Turnbull would turn away from taking a bite of a raw onion. (It is worth noting that Abbott is allowed to call himself a feminist but the culture of the party has not allowed the women to get there yet.) Related: The Intern has been panned by male film critics. Why am I not surprised? It’s a hangover from the 1970s when it was seen as a radical thing – because at the time it was radical for women to demand they not be treated as second class citizens. Today women in the Liberal party have to maintain the farce of the so-called meritocracy, pretend that they have lost count of the number of times they have been the only woman at the table, pretend that they did not have to be eight times better than their male colleagues to get to where they are. Of course these women believe they are just as good as men, of course they believe they and all other women should be treated equally, of course they are feminists, but it is far more important they believe these things than hollowly embrace the term and do the grand total of zero for women. |