Book Review - 'Ten Years On From The Misogyny Speech - Not Now, Not Ever' Edited By Julia Gillard

I couldn’t tell you where I was when I first heard about the famous ‘misogyny speech’, but I remember how I felt when I watched it in full on You Tube.

Quote from the book. ‘We cannot change the past, but the past can inspire us to campaign and change the future. My most sincere hope is for that to be the ongoing role of the misogyny speech.’

On the 9 October 2012, Australia’s first Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, delivered what is now known as the ‘misogyny speech’ in the Australian Parliament House. This powerful book was published ten tears after the speech. And now, thirteen years later, Australians are questioning the extent of progress made for women.

Quote from the book. ‘The many forms of sexism mean that it is sometimes hard to label sexist behaviour as such …’

The book includes the misogyny speech in full, together with the scrawled notes Ms Gillard used as prompts. On that day Julia spoke up for all women, calling out the double standards women face every day in society. The patriarchy they face in homes and at work. She made us all feel heard. She name dropped and directly called out the disgusting behaviour towards women in parliament.

The book is a collection of essays and reflections. Julia herself writes some of it, but it also contains personal reflections from some of Australia’s most influential women, such as author Kathy Lette and respected ABC journalist, Annabel Crabb.

There are three parts to this book: Part One includes reflections on the speech; Part Two covers misogyny, both past and present; and Part Three is about fighting misogyny.

Some men appallingly still judge successful women on their looks, body shape, or marital status instead of their ability. Despite holding the highest office in the land, vile comments—comments a man in the same position would never receive—continuously targeted Ms. Gillard because she is a woman.

No matter what side of the political fence you sit on, every woman in this country knows of this famous speech and every woman would have related to it in more ways than one. I often wonder how Julie Bishop, who later became the second woman to hold the position of Deputy Prime Minister after Julia Gillard, felt listening to that speech. You might recall that the opposition leader, Tony Abbot, once referred to her a ‘loyal girl’ back in 2009. A successful woman with years in politics under her belt being called a ‘girl’.

During the speech, Ms Gillard directly quoted some vile and disrespectful things the opposition leader had said to her, or about her, and by the end, she had him squirming in his seat.

Ms Gillard delivered the speech in a controlled, calm manner and to this day it remains one of the most influential speeches in Australian political history. If you haven’t seen it, google it.

Recommended reading.