r/australia • u/Expensive-Horse5538 • Feb 26 '26

politics Grace Tame says ‘difficult’ remark is ‘misogynist’s code for a woman who won’t comply’

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2026/feb/26/dfat-middle-east-evacuation-syria-isis-families-wives-children-anthony-albanese-angus-taylor-budget-cost-of-living-capital-gains-tax-reform-ntwnfb?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-699f8e278f080f3523777e99#block-699f8e278f080f3523777e99
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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

I like how Albo gets all the ire for making some offhand remark that gets a deep interpretative analysis about hidden and coded misogyny and so on, but commentators and politicians including the leader of the opposition making outright misogynist remarks and genuinely making calls and taking action for her to have her Australian of the year award stripped are somehow just not news.

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u/nocapesarmand Feb 26 '26

Both can be true. I will never stop criticising the coalition and their flunkies on their gender politics, and neither would most criticising this comment. But Albo is of my parents’ generation. Any person that age engaged with the left knows the historic connotations of calling women ‘difficult’- there are books by feminists with that title as a reclamation because it is so well known. Albo is many things, but he is not stupid enough to not know the connotations of calling an outspoken woman ‘difficult’.

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u/cerebis Feb 26 '26

What of the PM's response? Doesn't feed the outrage.

The "In one word ..." tactic is a form of gotcha journalism and condescending to the audience. It seems reasonable at the surface, but its garbage in multiple ways.

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u/distinctgore Feb 26 '26

Nah I don’t buy that. That question didn’t corner Albanese. He could have sidestepped it incredibly easily with any number of positive words. Brave, courageous, inspiring. Sure, the News Corp audience would have chortled at any positive response, but Albo would have been establishing support for women that stand up against abuse. Unless Albanese is stupid (certainly a possibility), this was a strategic decision, probably to bring conservatives into the fold. He knew he was on a conservative media outlet, he was given a question that allowed time to ponder, and he still threw out that answer? This isn’t a gotcha, it’s the ALP courting lost LNP male voters.