The Old Boys Club: Cost Of Membership
//Trigger warning: Sexist language and mentions of sexual assault//
Within the realm of British politics the most recognisable women, women that are said to shape the political world and catch the attention of the British public are not, in fact, politicians at all. These women are, in reality, often the wives of successful male politicians (Cambel and Child, 2010), claimed to be making “waves” in the feminist dream, while their husbands hold their law-making seats and positions. In 2010, the researchers that made these observations showed that, despite all the major political parties claiming to want more female MPs, their increase in numbers within the houses of parliament increased by just 2.5% in over 5 years, filling just over quarter of seats. Publishing’s by the House of Commons this month show that in 2019, women made up only 35% of MPs. Their website declares this as an “all-time high” (Bolton et al., 2022)
The House of Common’s demonstrate their “significant” female membership in analytical reports, despite still massively underrepresenting the UKs 51% female population
And how exactly do the husbands of these women, these “political icons”, behave within the houses of parliament? How do they treat their female colleagues in the heated crucible of our democracy? In 2011, in the heart of the UK Government, then PM David Cameron told MP Angela Eagle to “Calm down, Dear” in a commons debate (Ellis, 2015). In 2015, MP Alex Salamond patronised and dismissed MP Anna Soubry, telling her to “Behave yourself, woman”, while the two were locked in a debate. The sexist comments and language within the House of Parliament are a painfully consistent part of the job for the female MPs, to the extent that academic studies can be conducted on them over time (Ilie, 2018).
This does not make for a healthy and equal opportunity work space, it certainly doesn’t make for a space that has any right to celebrate “all-time high” female MP counts of 35% when the women who make up the houses of parliament so regularly leave due to the horrible working conditions. Prior to the 2019 general election, 18 female MPs announced they would be stepping down, in the face of nearly “daily” threats of death and rape (Scott, 2019).
What then is the solution to the invisibility and daily unmanageable harassment faced by women in parliament? A reasonable solution would be to depend on public defence. Within a representative democracy, those MPs who do not represent their constituents view would, logically, not be able to hold their seat within parliament for very long and the toxic culture that has developed would simply talk itself out of existence, right? Well, while that would be wonderful, I’m afraid that that isn’t exactly the reality of the situation. Just as much as the women in parliament are invisible, as, in the eyes of the British media, is their abuse at the hands of their male colleagues.
“The men within the Houses of Parliament seem to have no issues letting the sexism of their colleagues slide under the table.”
Then maybe some of the men in parliament will call out their colleagues, take a stand against the absolutely rampant casual sexism in the Houses of the British government! Unfortunately, calling Parliament an “old boys club” is, at this point, both an old trope and also a significant understatement. The men within the Houses of Parliament seem to have no issues letting the sexism of their colleagues slide under the table. It seems that it is not necessary for sexist actions taken towards the female members of the houses to be forgiven by the victims, or the women of the general public, but instead only important that they are forgiven by their male peers, many of whom are guilty of exactly the same actions. At best, a half-hearted apology will be issued in the moment and then dismissed, as was the case with Cameron’s comment, or an apology will be addressed to the British press for an action where it will be unanimously accepted by their party or the Prime Minister without question, as was the case for Matt Hancock cheating on his wife within No.10 during the peak of COVID lockdown (Woodcock, 2021)
And thus it is shown that the toxic culture within the houses of parliament will not correct itself. The flaws within the houses are shown to only be correctable through the attentive actions of those who vote to fill the seats, the British public. Young voters are not apathetic to these injustices. It is our responsibility as young agents to, as mentioned in my previous blog posts, hold our representatives in the Houses of Parliament accountable for their actions and the actions of their party.
What does this accountability look like then? What can we do as individuals?
The first and most obvious step would be ensuring that we write to our MPs complaining about their sexist behaviour when it arises, and if you live within a constituency of one of their colleagues, write to them about whether or not they condone the actions of fellow party members. If they do not, and they privately speak against their fellow MPs, then demand they speak publicly about their condemnation! If they stay silent, or do not address your concerns once they have been raised, then in their silence they have told you exactly how they feel about parliament remaining a “boys only” club.
“Keep the focus on social media…”
Separately to direct correspondence with your local MPs, there are other ways you can combat the invisibility of the women in parliament. When a male MP dismisses a female MP with language steeped in generations of sexism, do not simply let them apologise and move on. In the 21st century, as a result of social media, the general public has more control than ever before on the focus of public attention. Keep the focus of social media on the MPs who use this ridiculous language. Don’t let them escape the consequence of their actions, and don’t let the women they target and dismiss become invisible to the British Media.
One of the most fundamental underpinnings of modern sexism is the social invisibility of women in the workplace. Their existence, and as a result their achievements and mistreatment, are neglected. Within our own places of work we might not have the power to democratically elect our colleagues or our supervisors, we might not have the power to stand up to casual sexism within our own workplaces without risking our employment. But we do have the power to stand up here, and protect and give voices and attention to the women within the British Government. And where we have the power to set an example, and shine a light on inequalities within any level of political engagement, I believe we all have an obligation to do so.
Bibliography:
Bolton, P. et al. (2022) Women in Politics and Public Life. House of Common’s Library. Available at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01250/ (Accessed: 25/03/2022).
Channel 4 News (2011) David Cameron tells MP ‘calm down dear!’. 27 April. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWKBSYqtu7M (Accessed 03/04/2022)
Campbell, R. and Childs, S. (2010) ‘Wags’, ‘Wives’ and ‘Mothers’ … but what about women politicians? Parliamentary Affairs, 63(4), pp.760-777. doi:10.1093/pa/gsq022.
Ellis, L. (2015) Sexism and Politics: The Troubling Trend. Available at: https://www.shoutoutuk.org/2015/07/03/sexism-politics-troubling-trend/ (Accessed: 25/03/2022).
Ilie, C. (2018) Behave yourself, woman! Journal of Language and Politics, 17(5), pp.594-616. doi:10.1075/jlp.18015.ili.
Scott, J. (2019) Women MPs say abuse forcing them from politics. BBC. Oct 31, Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50246969 (Accessed: 25/03/2022).
Woodcock, A (2021) Matt Hancock Stays in Job as Boris Johnson Accepts His Apology. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/matt-hancock-job-affair-boris-johnson-b1872769.html (Accessed: 03/04/2022).
Hi Miles
This is a great take on Laddish culture in Parliament. I found it particularly annoying to see David Cameron tell an MP to “calm down dear”. Condescending language towards women like that is often used to push us out of male-dominated spaces.
Laddish culture is often overlooked, denied as ‘banter’ and played off as an acceptable way for one to conduct themselves. Reading your views about sexism in politics, it seems like masculinity and lad culture is an obvious systemic issue in the industry of politics. I see there is little to no reprimand for the continued suppression of women in parliament. I would also like to add, that there is also a great link between lad culture and sexual misconduct, which has unfortunately been swept under the rug or weirdly lightly forgiven.
However, I tend to find outrage surrounding “lad culture” and “r*pe culture” often fail to examine the intersection of gender, class privilege and whiteness in producing contemporary “laddish” behaviours. I think this is vital in understanding why such behaviours in parliament and in the British public are actively encouraged.
What are your thoughts on this and how would you suggest we hold our MPs accountable for their sexist behaviour?
I think you’re 100% correct Thyra, and thank you for giving me the space to address these issues here.
While the outrage around what you call “lad culture” and “r*pe culture” seems to be generally good-willed and has definitely done a large amount of good in the public space of debate, it often does often overlook the intersections that these cultures have with classism and racial identity. Just as condescending language towards women is often used to push women out of male dominated spaces, the use of words like “chav” as a descriptor of character or appearance is designed to keep different demographics out of educational, social and political spaces.
One must only read Prime Minister Johnshon’s autobiography to find a litany of racist comments towards our country’s south Asian population, all clearly made and subsequently dismissed as harmless “banter”, as you said. I am similarly concerned with the ease in which these comments are dismissed by the media, and by extension forgotten by the general public.
In terms of how we hold our MPs accountable for sexist behaviour, I give praise to movements started on social media that have already achieved great feats in drawing public attention to the comments made by sexist politicians, such as the protests you yourself have assisted in organising. While previously, larger media organisations themselves could choose to overlook MPs comments, therefore allowing events to fall by the side of public memory, now individual social media users can have a massive amount of control over the direction of online conversation. I believe that social media has the ability to be used as a tool for the general public to be reminded and informed of the actions of sexist MPs, and similarly, as a tool for demanding change from these Members of Parliament.
This was a really well-done blog Miles! Especially coming from the U.S women politicians face very similar barriers when running, and when they obtain political seats. I know especially women of colour like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been faced with similar sexist and racist remarks. It’s super important to look at these issues intersectionally and look at what people are saying on social media seriously as harassment and threat.
Thank you for your comment Kim! The comment you added about intersectionality is also crucial. It’s impossible to untangle the sexism and racism that women of colour face within politics, and understanding how these two factors intersect and the language used against these women is key to understanding and shining a light on the harassment they face.