Voices: Why can’t we uncouple gender and politics when it comes to female PMs?

We have a new prime minister. Yet for many of us, myself included, there is no joy or relief to be found in that knowledge. The Conservative reign – which feels never-ending – has taken a toll on so many. After 12 long years, and now four different PMs, few of us have been able to escape the wrath of their elitist policies.

The Conservative Party has poisoned our political outlook. Even those of us who were once steadfast advocates of politics now recoil from it. We’ve become jaded – and understandably so.

Even the announcement that we have another woman PM, the third ever in our political history, does little to remedy the damage done. How can it? We’ve been conditioned to have a knee-jerk reaction of disdain towards a woman PM, because every experience we’ve had has been under the Tory banner.

Our perceptions of what a female PM can do, of how she’ll govern, has been shaped and soured by what we’ve lived through. It’s truly unfortunate that every woman who has had the opportunity to lead us, has only further sown the seeds of doubt that women can lead a country.

Margaret Thatcher decimated mining communities, while Theresa May delivered austerity that targeted the vulnerable. Their legacies are questionable minefields we can’t forget. Unfortunately, many of us begin to struggle to separate politics from gender, choosing to see the two as inextricably interlinked. Instead of judging these women by their decisions, we taint the discourse with sexism.

There are already numerous social media posts that amplify this sexist ideology that women don’t make good PMs, using both Thatcher and May’s leadership to sully what women are capable of. I understand why. We’re products of our experiences and our experiences of female leadership have been appalling; the irreparable harm both Thatcher and May didis still felt today. Nobody should attempt to dispute that.

However, let’s be clear in their damage and recognise that it wasn’t because they were women, but because of their political ideologies. The crushing weight would have been the same under a male PM. In fact, Boris Johnson has arguably been the worst PM we’ve ever suffered.

I garner no sympathy for Liz Truss. She isn’t the PM I want, nor someone I would vote for; she champions intolerance through elevating the privileged even higher at the expense of minorities so desperately in need.

Yet, while these are the issues she should be held accountable for, deep-rooted misogyny ensures attention is diverted to her womanhood. This is why #ThickLizzy is circulating social media. We’ve decided that she’s a “thick woman”, with one user saying: “Thicker than an Eskimo’s sock. If it rained brain cells she would open an umbrella”.

As frustrated as the nation is, there are no victories by insulting Truss’s intelligence. Not just because these comments will be taken and utilised as a means to judge all women MPs, but because she is far from lacking intelligence. This woman has cleverly manipulated her party by saying exactly what they want to hear, relying on anti-trans rhetoric, and promises of tax cuts for the wealthy, to create the image of an ideal Tory leader (ideal for her party, not the nation). Whether you like the woman or not, the way she’s played the game thus far has worked in her favour, even if now some Tory MPs are already circling to bring about her political demise.

Consider for a moment the response to a Labour female PM. Do you really think our past experiences wouldn’t shape our opinions negatively? Yes, many of us are desperate to see Labour in the driving seat, even if our confidence in their policies has waned, but it would be remiss to pretend we wouldn’t view a female Labour candidate with wariness. Perhaps not as much as when they dress in blue, but we’d be on guard all the same. Sadly, no matter where any woman sits on the political map, they are already viewed with caution. By adding the negative legacy of female predecessors on top, it only further reaffirms that disdain.

Sexist comments also serve as a distraction tactic from the real issues that Truss’s leadership poses. A tactic that Truss has already deployed, albeit subtly. We don’t need to give these politicians more ways to dodge their reckoning. It’s a distraction men, both in right-wing and left-wing politics, will also use as ammo to keep women out of high ranking roles. There are many “Tory dinosaurs” waiting for Truss to fail, not because they don’t necessarily agree with her policies, but because they don’t want a woman in charge.

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Truss will face harsher criticism and backlash than Boris ever did, even if she proves to be the lesser evil. All due to her gender. She has a mountain of sexism to climb and overcome within her own party before even facing the public.

Arguably, this will impact Truss’s policies to be harder hitting to make a good impression for all her peers who doubt her. Truss, like Thatcher and May before her, will lead with venomous determination to make a name for herself. Regrettably, for other women one day hoping to be prime minister, it’ll be a name that instils dread in the public.

I fear that Truss will hammer yet another nail in the coffin of female PMs, her legacy one that will act as a reminder that women given the keys to the kingdom are a bad omen.

Hopefully history will be kind enough to remember that it’s not women that are the bad omen, but the party colours they fly. Truss isn’t a symbol of female empowerment, but nor is she a symbol of women’s failings either.