Women like to be liked. That’s what we’re always told, anyway; that the reason women still sometimes struggle to make it to the top is that we’re too reluctant to take the tough decisions, too keen to get along with everybody.
Well, tell that to the women of Westminster. After yet another week of Brexit gridlock, it would be easy to despair at the current state of politics. But if there’s one silver lining, it’s the sight of women standing up to be counted on both sides of the debate. Even though it’s female MPs, not male ones, who bear the brunt of abuse on social media for striking controversial positions, they’ve consistently been the ones willing to stick their heads over the Brexit parapet. The one upside of an otherwise fairly nerve-wracking Brexit week is that women politicians showed they have absolutely no intention of being squeezed out of the argument, despite concerted attempts at intimidation.
Labour’s Yvette Cooper has been nicknamed the ‘real leader of the opposition’ for the calm, practical way she’s tackled Brexit. She and her Labour colleague Rachel Reeves – who both tabled amendments arguing for our departure from the EU to be delayed beyond March if it looks like we’re not going to reach agreement on a smooth exit in time – may have lost last week, but don’t be surprised if that idea comes back on to the table in a few days, should Theresa May’s last-ditch attempts to reopen talks with Brussels fail.
Meanwhile, former Tory minister Caroline Spelman won the vote on her amendment ruling out a messy ‘no deal’ exit – which civil servants have warned could lead to chaos at ports and shortages of imported food and medicines. Her pro-European Conservative colleague Anna Soubry has also defied endless death threats and ugly street harassment by far-right activists, while two weeks ago Labour’s Tulip Siddiq delayed a planned Caesarean in order to vote on Brexit – embarrassing Parliament into finally changing its archaic arrangements for pregnant MPs in the process.
On the other side, a handful of Labour women representing deprived areas that voted to leave the EU are arguing that their constituents’ anger can’t just be swept under the carpet. Wigan’s Lisa Nandy, Ashfield’s Gloria De Piero, Don Valley’s Caroline Flint and Grimsby’s Melanie Onn have been called traitors online and threatened with deselection as MPs (and worse) if they don’t fall into line with Labour members who want Brexit stopped. But all insist it would be wrong to ignore the message from their towns, even if it’s an uncomfortable one for many to hear.
‘We’ve had so much bad news about the abuse women in politics get, for understandable reasons. But I think it’s really good to see women who are prepared to stand up and say, “Politics matters to us and it matters that this institution stands for what we care about, whether that’s baby leave or Brexit,”’ says Dr Sarah Childs, professor of politics and gender at the University of Birkbeck, who recently wrote a report for the House of Commons on making Parliament more female-friendly.
‘It’s good to be reminded that women can do politics well, and that the stories about what happens to women who put themselves in the public space aren’t always negative.’ The debate has also, Dr Childs points out, shown women politicians working together across party lines to try and find practical solutions: ‘There’s no way you would look at this debate and think women are not a big part of what’s happening.’
And that hasn’t always been the case with Brexit, since during the referendum campaign two years ago both sides were criticised for sidelining women. If there’s ever to be a second referendum, at least that’s one mistake it’s hard to imagine being repeated.