So, after a life changing three weeks in Europe, I’m thrusted right back into study. A mere 48 hours after landing back in Victoria, I’m off to a class that I’m already two weeks behind in. Not that I’m complaining. With a course name like Courtesans, Concubines and Conquest, who wouldn’t be excited to go?
Honestly I wasn’t expecting to be looking at such recent history. I’m really into European monarchs, particularly the Tudor Dynasty. So when I read the words Courtesans and Conquest, I imagined lectures on Elizabeth the first and court intrigue; not Julia Gillard’s speech on sexism (hopefully there’ll be a Liz 1st mention down the track). Usually, what comes to mind when I think of Julia Gillard, is the gag video of her falling over in India being shown everywhere. That and all of the memes about her floating around social media. A couple have made me chuckle. What stuck with me the most was that so much emphasis was put on how Gillard had been made into laughing stock. She wasn’t seriously by people, including me. Which has been attributed to her gender. In her biography My Story, Gillard talks about the falling incident. She states “No …show more content…
Or perhaps, I would argue a bi-product of a social media culture and meme obsessed generation. Gillard was one of the first prime ministers who had to try navigating this new generation.
Yet I can’t go past what Gillard said in her Misogyny speech parliament. How passionate and fed up she looked. From what I can see there’s no denying that Gillard was treated differently than if she was a man.
Now that I think about it, Elizabeth the first and Gillard have a lot in common. Both strong Redheads. Both one of the first women (second in Liz’s case) to lead their country; whilst having to be surrounded by and compete with powerful men. Both at times have been loved and despised. Also, most importantly, they both proved that a woman can lead her
Honestly I wasn’t expecting to be looking at such recent history. I’m really into European monarchs, particularly the Tudor Dynasty. So when I read the words Courtesans and Conquest, I imagined lectures on Elizabeth the first and court intrigue; not Julia Gillard’s speech on sexism (hopefully there’ll be a Liz 1st mention down the track). Usually, what comes to mind when I think of Julia Gillard, is the gag video of her falling over in India being shown everywhere. That and all of the memes about her floating around social media. A couple have made me chuckle. What stuck with me the most was that so much emphasis was put on how Gillard had been made into laughing stock. She wasn’t seriously by people, including me. Which has been attributed to her gender. In her biography My Story, Gillard talks about the falling incident. She states “No …show more content…
Or perhaps, I would argue a bi-product of a social media culture and meme obsessed generation. Gillard was one of the first prime ministers who had to try navigating this new generation.
Yet I can’t go past what Gillard said in her Misogyny speech parliament. How passionate and fed up she looked. From what I can see there’s no denying that Gillard was treated differently than if she was a man.
Now that I think about it, Elizabeth the first and Gillard have a lot in common. Both strong Redheads. Both one of the first women (second in Liz’s case) to lead their country; whilst having to be surrounded by and compete with powerful men. Both at times have been loved and despised. Also, most importantly, they both proved that a woman can lead her