In an ideological scenario, we would be living in a world where a person’s success would be measured by their achievements alone; where their gender would not magnify nor diminish their success.  Unfortunately though, politics is still an overly male dominated arena.  It seems to me that the success of the few females that reach the upper echelons of the political world is often magnified beyond the comparable achievements of their male counterparts - as though reaching the same goals deserves more praise if you're female.  It can often seem patronising, as though lacking a penis is some sort of disadvantage that we must overcome.

I do think that having our first female Prime Minister in Australia is a milestone to be celebrated in the journey towards true gender equality; but I can't help but wonder whether the mere fact that Julia Gillard is female is the only point that the masses and the media are focusing on. Yes, the odds are often against women in male dominated careers, but what about Gillard's policies, her ethics and the manner in which she seized the position of Prime Minister?  These are important factors that tell us what she stands for as a politician and as a person.  There are ideal traits that we like to see in our leaders, and I'm beginning to wonder whether she possess any of them given the events of the last week.

For want of a better analogy I think the milestone of the first female Prime Minister can be likened to another milestone for most women - losing your virginity.  There’s a common belief that the first time you have sex it should be remembered fondly as a positive experience.  Naively, many wish for it to be perfect, but I think that the important thing is to have the intent to create a perfect experience, rather than actually achieving perfection.  For me, the first female Prime Minister should be one with the strength and intellect to run a nation, but also one with the intent to create a perfect experience – after all, she’s likely to become a significant role model in an extremely important position.  Perhaps this desire for perfection should be mixed with a healthy dose of realism that a perfect result is unlikely - but it doesn't mean that it can't be aimed for at least.  Instead, and you may think this negative and cynical, but the manner in which Gillard assumed power last week seemed cut throat, back stabbing and nothing short of a coup; a complete about face from the support that she had been showing Kevin Rudd from day one.  The theories circulating regarding the union and mining executives that are in her back pocket don't help her public perception either.

Granted, one of us had to be the first.  I had just hoped that it would be a woman who deserved our respect for her policies, ideals, actions and positive attitude. If Gillard has started as she means to go on, I worry about what kind of role model she will be for women and girls of all ages.  I don't want to see my young niece looking up to women who embody the negative stereotype of ball-busting and manipulative women in powerful positions.  I want her to be able to look up to successful women who handle power respectfully, and honour the privilege of leading a nation.  Whether Gillard proves herself to be worthy of our vote remains to be seen, but luckily for her the alternative seems even more despicable...

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