Ditch the Witch: Julia Gillard and gender in Australian public discourse

Abstract

This thesis explores the interplay of gender, media, politics and women’s political representation in Australia. I examine how the Australian media has tended to reinforce rather than challenge dominant cultural aspects of Australian politics. Specifically, I analyse the ways in which Australian media has reflected women’s marginalisation in parliament. As Australia’s first female head of state, Julia Gillard’s term as Prime Minister provides a unique opportunity to analyse explicit and implicit ways in which gender has been used by media commentators in their assessment of her achievements. Analysis of the media’s treatment of Julia Gillard is used throughout the thesis, as her time in office exposed underlying conflicts surrounding gender and sexism in Australian media and public discourse. Media response to Gillard’s so-called Misogyny Speech is used as a particular case study. The thesis draws on a range of scholarship and commentary, including the works of Erving Goffman, Walter Lippmann, Pierre Bourdieu, Robin Lakoff, Anne Summers, Julia Baird, Pippa Norris and Marian Sawer, to construct a framework through which to examine the period of Gillard’s prime ministership. The last two writers (Norris and Sawer), inter alia, discuss the significance of women’s representation in parliament. In particular, the analysis highlights the significance of Anne Summers’ contribution to Australian feminism and draws on her Newcastle Speech (August 2012). I argue that Summers’ ideas and writing have been influential in shaping public discourse on Julia Gillard. I place the widely varied media responses to Gillard’s Misogyny Speech into a historical and comparative context to demonstrate the conflict within Australian society around issues of gender, feminism and female participation in public life.