It was with great astonishment and a heavy dose of desperation that I read the report in the local media on the Education Minister’s speech last Sunday in Birkirkara.
In his attempt to appear cool and, possibly, stimulate amusement, Mr Bartolo, the Minister for Education, it bears repeating, saw fit to draw a comparison between the Nationalist Party and a woman undergoing hymen-restoration surgery to become a virgin again.
The sheer audacity of a minister entrusted with no less than the education of our children to use such a metaphor, tongue in cheek and in public, is nothing short of an outrageous insult to all Maltese women and a reflection of how sexist this government truly is.
It’s unbelievingly shocking how conservative Labour is when it comes to gender rights
I have been saying for quite some time now that, despite Labour’s claims to believe in the advancement of women and pre-election pledges that women would be offered equal opportunities under a Labour administration, the new progressive Labour movement is anything but pro-women. It is becoming progressively evident that Labour are still not convinced of gender equality, despite all the brouhaha on civil rights and liberties.
From the word go, we have seen a decline of female participation in top civil service positions and on government boards. It seems that, just like the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, recently pronounced, the Maltese government believes that ‘you can’t get a woman to work in every job that a man does’. But, of course, you can.
The present Cabinet’s lack of respect to women had already manifested itself with the Transport Minister’s sexist comments in answer to a question by a female Nationalist member of Parliament.
The Prime Minister should have reigned in his ministers there and then and advocated what the entire country expects from its leaders: mutual respect and prudence! Instead, the Minister’s comments were received with much guffawing and jocularity from the government benches, leaving the Opposition completely dumbstruck.
For a progressive, liberal party that stood up for the advancement of gay people, it is unbelievingly shocking how conservative Labour is when it comes to gender rights.
This same lack of sensitivity and political correctness was displayed once again in the Education Minister’s speech.
Here we have a senior-ranking Cabinet member tasked with ensuring that future generations grow up fostering mutual respect between males and females away from chauvinistic traditional mindsets of what a man and woman’s role in society should be.
Here we have a minister who is responsible to ensure that our children are educated not only in core academic subjects but also in ethics, basic human rights and a responsible attitude towards others of a different gender, sexual orientation, race or belief.
And this very same role model chooses to denigrate women in the most revolting and shameful way during a Sunday morning Labour Party activity.
How low can they go?
It was already unacceptable for the then leader of the Opposition, Joseph Muscat, to claim that he would be leading the most ‘feminist’ government ever.
Being a champion of women’s rights and supporting equal opportunities does not make you a part of the women’s liberation movement.
The term feminism originated in the 19th century with campaigns for women’s equal political, economic, cultural and social rights. Fast forward to 2014 and one would assume that such ferocious campaigning is no longer necessary and that women enjoy equal opportunities in Maltese society. That is unless, of course, Labour has decided to reverse the hard-earned trend of gender neutrality.
The Education Minister should apologise to all Maltese women for his extremely sexist and distasteful metaphor. Failure to do so will only reinforce my belief that the Labour Party is not only sexist but also treats women with ridicule. I hope I am proven wrong.
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Caroline Galea is vice president of the Nationalist Party’s Women’s Movement