The marginalisation of female politicians by the media

When David Cameron, the Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party, came into power, he vowed to have a 30% female representation in the Government. The Liberal Democrats do not have one female representative on the front bench. In a letter to the Guardian by Dr Rainbow Murray, convenor of the Women and Politics group in the Political Studies Association, Dr Murray emphasized the contradiction between Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ political ideals, and the ‘man-only’ ethos which currently runs through the governmental bloodline.

The issue was further exacerbated by the current obsession with the dress-sense of Cameron’s wife, Samantha. News coverage focusing on high-ranking female politicians, members of the judiciary, medical professionals and female entertainers frequently makes light of their professional achievements, highlighting instead their physical appearance and sexual appeal. The amount of column inches devoted to Samantha Cameron’s fashion choices far exceeds those devoted to her impressive professional career working as a Creative Director for the stationary firm Smythsons.

There doesn’t seem to be any change in the attitudes to woman presented by the media; things have stayed the same since the 1950s in the tabloid newspapers; the third page of every tabloid is still devoted to an image of a young girl with her breasts unveiled. The only concession to modernity is the fact that the revealing image now carries with it a tiny speech bubble in which the model in question vocalizes her opinions on the big news story of the day. I’m not sure that this is quite what Emily Pankhurst had in mind when she protested for the female right to voice an opinion….