Media Tarts

Julia Baird

Since the 1970s journalists have been trumpeting the rise of the female politician and selecting likely candidates for our first woman prime minister. Yet each of those touted as ‘the woman most likely to’ has failed to fulfil the prophecy, ending up discarded or discredited. Bronwyn Bishop, Natasha Stott Despoja, Cheryl Kernot, Carmen Lawrence, Pauline Hanson their grisly heads are displayed on spikes in political memory, serving as a warning to those who wish to follow them. In the noughties, women are told to present a small target. The message is clear: fly too high, and you will be shot down. And look like a fool while you fall.

Through in-depth interviews with these and other women in politics, as well as opinion leaders in the press gallery, Media Tarts tells the story of women who tried to change the way politics was viewed and played, and were attacked for it with startling ferocity. It examines the role the press played in their downfall, and the part they played themselves.

Baird argues: ‘the difference between what women are thought to bring to politics, and what they actually do bring has played havoc with the careers of our most successful female politicians. Trumpeted as sincere, honest and accessible, when they turn out to be human, the pundits marvel and sneer. Women and power, water and oil or at least that’s what you might think if you relied only on the media for information.’

Despite this, Baird also argues, it is wrong to simply see women as powerless victims of an unfair press. Instead of playing ‘the gender card’, politicians and feminists need to be smart about the way the media operates, and learn from what the icons of the 1990s did wrong. Media Tarts provides practical tips on how to handle the media, but suggests that by playing the game women should not give up trying to change politics.