Because I Am Woman: the Representation of Women in the Queensland Parliament 1915-2015
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Because I am Woman: The Representation of Women in the Queensland Parliament 1915-2015 Author Meiklejohn, Ainslie Rose Published 2018-04 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School School of Hum, Lang & Soc Sc DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/3601 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/386030 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au Because I am WOMAN The Representation of Women in the Queensland Parliament 1915–2015 Ms. Ainslie Meiklejohn BA (Hons) School of Humanities Griffith University Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 2018 Statement of Authorship This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. (Signed)____Ainslie Rose Meiklejohn_________________________ Abstract Between 1915 and 2015, 83 women held seats in the Queensland Parliament. This thesis seeks to understand why the women Members of the Queensland Parliament are under- represented and less likely to hold leadership positions. Moreover, the narratives for these women have not been recorded or heard. This aims to understand this under-representation, and further, by developing qualitative and quantitative data, this thesis seeks to add to the existing literature on women’s experiences in parliament. Further, I argue gender can be understood within Bourdieu’s concept of capital (Bourdieu, 2002, 2001), as an additional category of capital and I posit that gender capital is a part of the explanation for the persistent under-representation of the women Members of the Queensland Parliament. By understanding capital, and gender capital, the data in this thesis outlines the masculinist culture of the Queensland Parliament and the political parties. The qualitative data, which included one-on-one, in-depth interviews and ethnography, defines the depths of the both implicit and explicit and masculinist culture, which remains one of the more pervasive barriers to women’s representation in the Queensland Parliament. This thesis includes qualitative data, from one-on-one, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with past and present women Members from the Queensland Parliament 1915- 2015, and ethnography from the Queensland Parliament. From this data, I argue the culture in the Queensland Parliament is masculinist, and this sits within the wider masculinist cultural milieu. By applying Bourdieu’s concept of capital (1984, 2002) to gender, I argue men and women exist within the constraints of masculine and feminine capital. In a masculinist culture, with masculine as the default, and specifically in the example of the Queensland Parliament, where women are under-represented, women are marked by their bodies and their capital. Thus, women are judged in ways that men are not, and often perceived to be lacking capital. The Queensland Parliament is an unequal working environment, and despite the contemporaneous advances in women’s representation, the masculinist culture continues to be a barrier for women entering the Queensland Parliament. This thesis which draws on Bourdieu (1977, 1984, 1993, 2001, 2002), Huppatz (2006, 2009, 2012), Crawford and Pini (2010a) and Acker (1992, 2000, 2006a, 2006b, 2009) to understand how gender operates in male dominated industries. I argue gender inequality is a cultural issue, entrenched in our everyday lives, extending into the workplace. Gender is invisible for men, who have masculine capital in a masculinist setting, however, there remains a barrier for women whose skills and capital are under-appreciated and undervalued. Overall, this thesis draws on the quantitative data to indicate the success of Voluntary Party Quotas in the Queensland Parliament, which act as a counter to the masculinist culture of the political parties in the Queensland Parliament. Further, this thesis adds to the existing literature by including the concept of the stumbling trajectory. I argue women experience gender in ways that men do not, and this is reflected in the stumbling career trajectory. This research concludes that women do have ambition and drive to be included in pre-selection and positions of leadership, however this is tempered by outside gender-based factors such as motherhood, the traditional roles and expectations of women and internal party politics. By using Acker’s concept of male dominated workplaces (Acker, 1992, 2000, 2006a, 2006b, 2009) and Crawford and Pini’s (2010a) concept of the gendered parliament, the experiences of the women Members can be understood in terms of capital. Further, as re-worked by Huppatz (2012), Bourdieu’s concept of capital now includes gender capital, and this research also argues for the inclusion of gender capital while addressing the gap pertaining to gender and Bourdieu. The other significant contribution this thesis makes is the collection and collation of qualitative data from the women Members. Finally, this thesis acknowledges, the representation of women, and women in leadership, is moving in a positive direction. Examples of this lie in former Premier Bligh, Premier Palaszczuk, former Deputy Premier and current Treasurer Trad, former Leader of the Opposition and former Deputy Premier Sheldon, Deb Frecklington as Leader of the Opposition, The Honourable Leneen Forde, The Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce, and The Honourable Penelope Wensley. Future research may include the political parties, as there is no demarcation of the political parties, to avoid identification of the participants. Future research could also be directed specifically to pre- selection and gate-keepers within political organisations. Research investigating the hierarchical nature of the political parties would also be significant for women’s representation. Acknowledgments First, I would like to acknowledge the women who gave their voices to my research. Without their time, candour and generosity I would not have a thesis. I also need to thank my family and friends. I am deeply appreciative of their kindness and support, and for those who stood by me while I continued to be a student, long beyond my youth. I am humbled by their support and generosity. Dr Susanna Chamberlain and Dr Liz van Acker, who were firm but kind, supportive and compassionate and kept me on my path when I started to stray. I would also like to give thanks and appreciation to all the wonderful library, archival, and parliamentary staff, who helped me with the finer details, and provided the knowledge which this thesis draws on. I would also like to extend my deepest thanks to the sisterhood. I am immensely appreciative and thankful for the women who fought for suffrage, for the right to an education, for the right to work and for equal pay. I’m also thankful for the women in my life who have inspired me to achieve my goals and supported me and encouraged me to do so. I also would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land, the Yugarabul, Yuggera, Jagera, Bundjalung, Midgenbil, Githabul, and Turrbal peoples, and pay my respects to Elders, past, present and emerging. Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Research Question and Argument 4 1.3 Aim of the Thesis 5 1.4 Historical and Cultural Context 5 1.5 Defining Gender: Gender as a Social Construct 6 1.6 Making the Case for Queensland and Bourdieu 7 1.7 Chapter Outline 11 CHAPTER 2 14 Literature Review: 14 Women, Politics and Parliament 14 2.1 Introduction 14 2.2 A Brief History of the Queensland Parliament 18 2.3 Politics of Queensland 20 2.4 Political Parties 21 2.5 The Australian Labor Party (ALP) 22 2.6 Liberal Party (LPA) 23 2.7 The National Party (NPA) 24 2.8 Queensland Women and Suffrage 24 2.9 Irene Longman 26 2.10 The Rights of Women 29 2.11 Quantitative Data: Making Women Count 32 2.12 Proportional Representation 33 2.13 Candidates 34 2.14 Quotas and Affirmative Action 36 2.15 Trade Unions 38 2.16 Women and the Media 39 2.17 Glass Metaphors 44 2.18 Narrative 46 2.19 Culture 48 CHAPTER 3 44 Bourdieusian Framework with a Feminist Epistemology 44 3.1 Introduction 46 3.2 Gender and Bourdieu 49 3.3 Embodied Gender and Identity within the Cultural Masculinist Milieu 56 3.4 Habitus and the Field 63 3.5 Field, Gender Capital and the Queensland Parliament 65 3.6 Gender and Embodied Capital 70 3.7 Gender Politics, Language and Bourdieu 74 3.8 Conclusion 76 CHAPTER 4 78 Methodology: 78 Qualitative Feminist Oral HERstories 78 4.1 Introduction 78 4.2 Feminist Methodologies 79 4.3 Triangulation 81 4.4 Oral History 82 4.5 Qualitative Research 83 4.6 Ethnography 84 4.7 Interviews 85 4.8 Methodology Plan 86 4.9 Limitations of the Research 87 CHAPTER 5 92 5.1 Introduction 92 5.2 Milestones 94 5.3 Women in the Executive 109 5.4 Conclusion 116 CHAPTER 6 120 Qualitative Data: 120 Listening to the Lived Experiences of the Women Members of the Queensland Parliament 120 6.1 Introduction 120 6.2 Gender as a Form of Capital 124 6.3: Women’s Experience of Gender and the Queensland Parliament 126 6.5 Ambition 132 6.6 Affirmative Action 138 6.7 Ethnography in the Queensland Parliament 140 6.8 Pre-Selection 143 6.9 Networks 143 6.10 Competition 145 6.11 Motherhood 146 6.12 Traditional Women's Issues and a Substantive Difference 154 6.13 Substantive Representation 155 6.14 Women in the Media 158 6.15 Conclusion 160 CHAPTER 7 162 Findings 162 7.1 Introduction 162 7.2 Defining Gender as Capital 165 7.3 Hegemonic Structures and the Daily Habitus of the Queensland Parliament 167 7.4 Media and Gender 172 7.5 Pre-Selection 177 7.6 Quantitative Data: For the Record 179 7.7 Women in the Executive 182 7.8 Affirmative Action and Voluntary Party Quotas 186 7.9 Substantive and Descriptive Representation 188 7.10 Qualitative Data: The Lived Experience 192 7.11 Ethnography: a Woman’s Place is in the House 194 7.12 Stumbling Career Trajectory 206 7.13 Not Me 208 7.14 The Glass Metaphor 212 7.15 Triangulation 214 7.16 Conclusion 217 CHAPTER 8 220 Discussion 220 8.1 Introduction 220 8.2 Barriers 220 8.3 Quantitative Data in Context.