Jacinda Ardern and Bill English speak during the Vote 2017 1st Leaders Debate. Photo / Getty Images
Jacinda Ardern and Bill English speak during the Vote 2017 1st Leaders Debate. Photo / Getty Images
Comment:
Speaking at an Auckland Writers' Festival event this morning, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern looked back at her campaign for the 2017 election and revealed a couple of interesting things.
Then she recalledthe campaign debates against other party leaders and admitted she "angsted" a lot about what to wear.
She wore her hair up for the first debate, with former National Party leader Bill English, and afterwards received so much "feedback" that she didn't dare repeat the hairdo for the following debates.
We didn't check with Bill English, but we're going to go ahead and make the assumption that he didn't receive a single email about his navy suit or light blue tie.
It's the age-old story we like to think we're past but actually aren't.
Ardern's passing comment about her outfit and hairstyle choices during the campaign sounds like a mere anecdote, but it's a symptom of how far we still have to go.
Jacinda Ardern and Bill English speak during the Vote 2017 1st Leaders Debate. Photo / Getty Images
It proves women in politics, or any kind of position of leadership, are still held to a deeply different standard compared with men.
Ardern had to overcome a number of ridiculous distractions to become Prime Minister, including people giving her feedback on her ponytail.
Just to be clear, ponytails have not been - and should not be - anyone's business (not since John Key's infamous, er, lapse of judgment).
And yet here we find ourselves, with the country's now leader, one of the most applauded politicians in the world, admitting she "angsted" over what to wear because of getting so much feedback about it.
The same people who criticised her ponytail probably had a total sum of zero thoughts on her policies, but had plenty of reckons on whether she should let her hair land on her shoulders.
Whenever a woman of power threatens to take a position of leadership from a man in a suit - any suit, whatever style or colour - her looks inevitably get scrutinised.
It's almost as if people are trying to distract from the policies. It's a classic power move, choosing to ignore what a woman is saying by focusing on what she looks like.
The reality is that, for all of society's advancements, a female prime minister - especially a woman as young as Ardern - is still very much a novelty.
When Hillary Clinton ran for president of the US, a ridiculously high number of people interviewed by different TV channels in America said they would not vote for her because she was a woman.
The worst part?
Some of the people saying this were women, which goes to show how ingrained this retrogade view of politics as a patriarchy still is. This wouldn't be so important if it wasn't for the fact that those people are voters who chose someone not because of their policies but because of their gender.
To this day, an outrageous number of people make sexist remarks about Ardern on any article written about her that's shared on social media. If they're not questioning her ponytail or appearance in any way, they are going for her parenting.
In public and in private, Ardern has to deal with this kind of rubbish on a regular basis.
Does anyone wonder why Donald Trump picks a particular suit? Or why Scott Morrison has that particular hairdo?
As a woman, it often seems like Ardern can't win. Except she did win and continues to, whatever her hairstyle.
Will this change? Hopefully. And the only way it will is with women like Ardern standing up at events on Sunday morning and speaking up about being at the centre of things like this.
Hopefully, with more Jacindas in the spotlight highlighting the ridiculousness of focusing on someone's appearance, girls will grow into women who know their ideas are worth more than their hairstyle - and the way they comb their hair is none of anyone's goddamn business.
For what it's worth, I think Bill English looks all right in blue, but that white shirt was a little too dull. And if this statement seems outrageous to you, check your privilege.
