Shameless weighs in on slurs against Stronach

Although it seems to be somewhat late in the day, the Shameless magazine blog has posted about the sexist crap that was (and probably is) being dished out to Belinda Stronach, MP. Thea Lim, a frequent contributor to the blog, detailed comments from Peter MacKay, Norman Spector and Ralph Klein and explained the context for the non-Canadian readers of Shameless before saying that she posted not because of what they said, but because of what other women said:

I’m not a Stronach supporter, but I was totally distressed by the comments made about her. It sends a clear message to any young woman bold enough to go into politics in Canada that, if you want to get anywhere, you better date like a nun, keep your mouth shut, and act with more decorum than any man in the house does.

But in the end, what made me want to post about Belinda, was that I heard multiple women complain that, when Belinda responded that MacKay’s comment was “offensive to all women,” she was making the issue about women, when it was only about Belinda. I feel vehemently that that is untrue. As one of the most prominent women in Canada (even if her power is constantly attacked and denigrated), when she’s slurred in public by powerful men in our community, it IS about us.