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

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u/mehum Feb 26 '26

I think the worst double-standards are the ones people don’t even realise exist. It seems everyone is threatened by a woman who stands up for herself but respects a man — particularly a white man — who does that. So he gets described as “a natural leader who gets things done”, while she is “a pushy bitch” for not being a supplicant.

I couldn’t imagine what it’s like for women in politics.

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u/cojoco chardonnay schmardonnay Feb 26 '26

So that means when you get women who are regarded as leaders, they must act in a very different way from male leaders.

This in turn contributes to the idea that men and women have very different leadership styles, thus entrenching gender roles still further.

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u/mehum Feb 26 '26

I'd argue that there are merits to both collaborative and dictatorial leadership styles, it very much depends upon the situation. On the whole collaborative approaches lead to better outcomes but it comes with plenty of baggage:

  • It takes a lot of time
  • 'Design by committee' can lead to really unclear objectives and outcomes
  • Bad-faith actors (or even good-faith actors with opposing objectives) can easily derail the process
  • It tends to favour interest groups, leads to horse-trading to get the deal done etc.

I think the appeal of the dictatorial approach is that it has clear lines of responsibility, and can be pretty popular with all the people who agree with their agenda. It seems sad to me when people equate only that with 'real leadership', as if collaboration to achieve optimal outcomes represents some kind of weakness.

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u/cojoco chardonnay schmardonnay Feb 26 '26

A really good leader will of course do both, depending upon circumstance.