So, I was going to remind you lovely Canadian girls and guys that our own election is coming up, er, SOON, and that we may want to dedicate some Feministing space to our own female party leader.
And then it hit me. Elizabeth May? Sexism? Wait ... never mind!
So instead, I would like to congratulate the Canadian media for staying a cut above the rest. While Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton, and even Michelle Obama have been battling sexism left, right and center (pun intended) throughout the pre-election campaign hype, sexism against May has been virtually nonexistant.
OK, there were claims - some, admittedly, by May herself - that the initial opposition other party leaders had to her participation in the candidates' debates was a gender-based opposition. But that's about it. And personally, I - and I think most other people too - saw that as more of an opposition to the Green party than to May. The Green party leaders didn't really have momentum in political elections until ... well, pretty much now.
So has anyone else noticed other sexist references? Am I blind? Am I missing something? I even decided to google Elizabeth May + sexism just to see. And all that came up was the debate controversy. It seems that this confident, self-assured and damn smart party leader has been victorious over sexism, at least on a media level.
Let's count this is as one in, hopefully, many victories to come. Last night, she kicked ass in the debate, and I think she's the party leader in our country with the best leadership qualities. She is eloquent, on the ball and very in tune with the issues. And thankfully, none of this has been overshadowed in the media by comments devoted to her fashion sense, her attractiveness, her emotions or even her "ballbusting."
Score one for the Canadian media!
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Just stay away from the conservative blogger comment threads. There are many that like to refer to her as a bag lady.
the only sexism i've noticed against may was in an over view of last night's debate in the edmonton sun today. when listing the candidates appearence in the debate, all of the male candidates appearence referred to how they were acting (appeared calm, appeared confident and strident) elizabeth may's appearence was, of course, about the fact that she wore a suit with a blue shirt. uhm, neat? and harper, dion, layton and duceppe wore suits with ties. this is evidently quite important. uh huh. anyways, i dislike the edmonton sun, they have never come across as an intelligent, professional new paper to me, and feature hald naked women in between their articles.
i'm only sixteen, but i wish i could vote!!!
on the up side, however, a co-worker / friend of mine turned 18 yesterday (just in time!) and i did a little dance and told her how important it is for her to vote, and she agreed to do so if we discussed all of the parties, as well as the candidates in her riding (which, albiet i don't know much about yet, as i'm on the other side of a diving street and in a different riding, although the conservative leader in her riding is just awful, plain and simple). but this makes me very excited!
sonia--the Toronto Star did that today too. I don't remember whether it was a wire service article or not, so it could have been the same one. But it just goes to show that even a liberal paper like the Star carries this crap too.
I'm glad to see a bit of Canadian election commentary here!
I was actually completely impressed by May's performance in the debate... I hadn't paid much attention to the Green Party (I've always thought that their very name was too divisive as I consider the NDP to be a green party as well!), but she is definitely an excellent debater. She was the only person to both stay on topic and steer others back to topics at hand, as well as focusing on what she would do rather than what has been done under the Cons.
The Greens still won't get my vote, personally, but after seeing her debate I have much more respect for their party.
I haven't seen any sexism against May, either, but I don't follow conservative news sources so that may be why.
I actually thought it was kind of bogus for her to claim that the opposition to her participation in the debate was sexist. I think it had a lot more to do with the fact that she is the Green Party leader than the fact that she is female.
I'd love to vote Green this election (my first federal election!) but the NDP candidate in my riding is just a few votes short of beating the Conservative incumbent, so I think she needs my vote more than the Greens do.
I think I will vote Green this time, and it is strictly because of her. She kicked ASS in that debate! She stayed on track with the issues, like Megan said, and I just really like the Green Party's platform on everything. And for the most part, she was all like, "Oh, I'm gonna answer that question, I'm gonna answer the SHIT out of it like it didn't see it coming!" I've usually voted NDP in the past, and I still like them, but I prefer May to Layton, and I want my vote to represent her leadership. I live in a Conservative stronghold riding, so no matter how I vote I won't actually elect anyone anyway.
That's another reason I like May - she said if she were elected, electoral reform would be her first priority. And that hit HOME (literally) with me. Too bad she won't win.
Good for you Mayfly for voting strategically - it sucks that we've been reduced to doing it, but this time around, it's important to keep Harper's government out of a majority. *shudder* I would vote strategically if I could, but I can't in my riding. There's no chance of beating the Tory in my riding. I hate feeling like my vote will be useless.
Your vote won't be useless if you're voting Green, though! Every vote they get increases their funding and visibility.
Oh, I know it's not completely useless. I just meant that it's frustrating that I know I won't be electing anyone.