Can we please stop it with the gender victims in politics?
Bravo, Premier Gladys Berejiklian, for batting away stupid questions about gender on the Sunday Project.
In the middle of a global pandemic, when NSW has handled the crisis better than most places, it is disappointing that host Lisa Wilkinson would hammer the tired old trope about politics being a "boys' club".
Honestly, who cares?
What matters is whether the Premier performed and, apart from the very big problem of the Ruby Princess, largely she has.
"I want people to reflect on my performance as the Premier and as the leader," she said, deftly batting away the distraction.
But Wilkinson, who usually is a more dexterous interviewer, harped on.
First, she mentioned Julie Bishop's latter-day conversion to victim feminism, as if it were a model to emulate.
Then she dredged up Julia Gillard's fabled misogyny speech, as if we are meant to forget that it was just a cynical tactic to protect disgraced speaker Peter Slipper.
The Premier diplomatically refused to tell Wilkinson whether she was on Gillard or Abbott's side.
"I think the best way to deal with those stereotypes and those comments is to do a good job, in your job. If I do a good job as a Premier, the stereotype about what leadership looks like changes."
Exactly. Let's focus on performance, not identity.
Originally published as Can we please stop it with the gender victims in politics?
