When Obama got Osama a few months ago, I wrote this rather snarky post.
So, imagine my delight/annoyance when I saw this piece of graffiti on a dunny wall somewhere in Newcastle over the weekend:
Delight at knowing someone else is as juvenile as me. Annoyance at the spelling of Obama. Obamo? OBAMO?
Come on, I am a pedant; you may know that already.
A couple of weekends ago I visited the nation’s capital, the fine and circular city Canberra with a friend who, inexplicably, had some strong desire to visit.
So, we go to Old Parliament House via the Aboriginal Embassy. At Old Parliament House, I get a little carried away with taking photos of portraits of former Prime Ministers. You know, like this guy:
Or this guy:
All very good and dandy, I thought. Prime Minister portraits hanging in Old Parliament House. Prime Ministers who, love them or hate them, fought their way to the top to lead (or mislead) the country, perhaps with a lot of luck or cunning or backstabbing or by default.
Of course, I thought as I wandered past other former Prime Ministers, none of them have been women. We like to think we’re a progressive nation with equal rights for women. Well, that’s according to rightwing columnists and bloggers who make this point by comparing women’s rights and equality in Australia with women in, say, Afghanistan. Still, women in Australia have it better than their sisters in that country. Oh, apart from the fact that one in three women in Australia will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime.
Other countries have or have had female PMs: India, the UK, Dominica, Finland, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Canada, Pakistan, Turkey, Haiti, Israel, New Zealand, Jamaica, Croatia, Norway, Moldova, and Iceland. I’ve probably missed more but look at that list. Wow. And Australia?
Nothing. Julia Gillard, it’s your freaking time.
So, I’m wandering around looking at these portraits and admiring the art work while noting it’s all men, men, men when I come before another portrait and stop in my tracks.
Of course, I scream inside, of course! We have had a female Prime Minister of Australia! How the fuck did I forget?
The former PM and her husband
Note: this was the only portrait in Old Parliament House of a former PM that included the wife. I looked.
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