Picture, above: Dave 'The Pap' Evans
“THAT'S not very sisterhood, is it?”
The above little line is a common rebuke on Twitter when I allow the Wirral West MP to raise my hackles. Usually, unerringly, delivered by a man, this phrase is designed to lock down discussion.
Women, it froths, should not criticise other women. We should be supportive. Much like any family that aspires to have its dirty washing kept out of the public gaze, any concerns we have about members of our sex should be kept under wraps. Bad feminist; the only thing that should spill from my sweet plump lips when I consider my sisters is praise and joy.
Her politics may be anathema to me but having the most high profile woman in Parliament speaking with a scouse twang is a good thing
As much as I enjoy being told what I can and can’t say by a man, this comment does pull me up short. I am not the only vocal leftie who doesn’t like Esther McVey. Even one of the city’s political elite recently commented she’s done more for Labour in the city than anyone.
If I purely take how she comes across in political discourse; I don’t like her patronising head-shakes when she hears something she doesn’t agree with. I don’t like her schoolgirl-esque bullying tone and dismissal of those who ask her critical questions and suggest there might be another perspective. In my darker moments I think what she and Iain Duncan Smith have been embarking on in the Department for Work and Pensions is little short of criminal. We have very different views on what the Utopian society looks like.
Yet there is something I cannot ignore: McVey, as one of the most high profile women in the Coalition cabinet is fighting a fight on more fronts than simply one against the poor.
Search for Esther McVey on Google and a few pre-empts come up, “hot”, “married” and “Twitter”. One of the top results is a “racy” (you never hear that word used to describe a man, do you?) photoshoot covered in that bastion of women’s libbers the Daily Mail. Instead of focusing on a political intercourse - like the search results that come up for Michael Gove, for example - how the internet reflects one of the most powerful women in the country is reflected by societal conventions and latent sexism.
Hot topic: What people look for in Esther McVey
Esther McVey, formerly a GMTV presenter, woman in business and SME champion did much before she went into Parliament. Her “Making It” business offered serviced and incubator space for emerging entrepreneurs and SMEs in Liverpool. Winning Women, the networking group championed female business leaders and was sold to Forward Ladies when she went into politics. The former, she said in an interview, she handed control over to her dad. The Winning Women website is no longer registered and Forward Ladies next event on its website - in a year when there is quite a bit of focus on business and networking in Liverpool - is October. Championing small, emerging and especially female-led business is a passion both I and Esther share.
Yet despite these good works, McVey was a figure of fun before her elevation to Parliament, and often a punchline in the local media.
Journalists, even in this right-on fair city, would mock her political aspirations as many do when a blonde and attractive woman asks for her voice to be heard. She was often characterised as being fame-hungry, a bit of a rent-a-quote and not really a serious option for voters. Once she was elected and has enjoyed a rapid rise through the ranks, interviews with McVey still focus on her marital status and whether she has kids.
She said in an interview that, being from Liverpool, she can’t really embrace Thatcher but you can’t ignore the fact that she was a role model as a woman in the top branch of politics.
I feel the same way about McVey. Her politics may be anathema to me but having the most high profile woman in Parliament speaking with a scouse twang is a good thing. And that’s what I should do, isn’t it, as a leftie? I should look at the bigger picture and think of the latent hypocrisy and sexism that surrounds how people view her and fist-bump her in solidarity. A mouthy scouse bird on telly. That is “a good thing” is it not?
In my darker moments I do confess to thinking, “yeah it’s good, but does it have to be THAT woman?” A monumentally unfair reaction as I can’t push for equality and then grumble at the representation.
Here my embrace of equality bubbles upwards. I have the same dislike of IDS as I do for Esther McVey and it’s rooted very much in their political behaviour and policy, not their gender or class. I think her politics and behaviour in the media is spinning the most divisive “them and us” of the current crop of mealy mouthed right wingers. I believe their welfare policies are not just hurting but are attacking our poorest and most vulnerable.
I think it’s giving right-wing media the platform in which to twist and distort the political discourse to undermine one of our greatest contributions to western democracy; the Welfare State. In my opinion their reforms encourage hatred of neighbours and rely on divide and rule.
I’d prefer that any criticism of McVey were rooted not in misogyny but in a critical analysis of the effect of her policies.
What are you saying when you admonish me for doing that? Are you telling me that it’s more important that a scouser is in the Cabinet so I should put up and shut up? Good women can’t bow their heads when they see women doing things they don’t agree with. That’s not equality that’s bullying.
Sisterhood doesn’t mean standing aside and letting someone remain unchecked. That’s is the very worst kind of discrimination. It does both me and the target of my ire a disservice.
While Esther McVey is free to usher in whatever policy she likes and defend it in whatever way she likes in the media, I think it reflect my truest devotion to solidarity to stand up against her and say “No, I don’t agree”. Stick that in your Twitter and smoke it.
