Tory Whanau and gendered criticism

A guest post by PaulL.

I see this article in the Herald, in which Tory Whanau says that criticism of her not attending some meetings is “gendered”.

I saw a lot of criticism of Wayne Brown for not being available enough, not turning up to meetings, not being around during a cyclone and suggesting he might play tennis on a Saturday morning instead of work (sure, during a cyclone, but it was Saturday). I think that criticism was definitely coming from one side of the political spectrum, but it was also somewhat fair.

Tory says that she “thinks the focus on her attendance is undue, and largely because people don’t like what she represents as a young Māori woman in council.” And “[The criticism is] gendered. And I know that people are going to be uncomfortable with hearing that but let’s be real here.”

“Saturday night should I be in the office? Well no, that’s just silly. I’m entitled to a private life. I’m entitled to have a little fun with my mates and there are some people who take issue with that.”

She was also heckled at a resident’s association meeting. “…what it felt like to me is that like many other women, I was just being shouted down by a group of men.”

Is it perhaps possible that any mayor would face questions if their attendance is a bit short? Wayne Brown certainly did. And that there will be people who disagree with you and heckle? Certainly Wayne Brown gets that too.

I always find it interesting when the go to explanation is sexism or racism, when an alternative explanation is that pretty much everyone in politics will face people who disagree with them. It’s part of how politics works. I personally think people should be able to disagree without shouting others down. But the left are usually the worst offenders, so it’s a bit rich for her to be saying it’s rude, or claiming that it’s because of her gender or race.