How NOT to appeal to women voters
Whichever side of the Scottish independence debate you stand on, I’m sure none of us appreciated the sexist and patronising advert used by ‘Better Together’ – the campaign encouraging people to vote against independence.
The video shows a woman sitting in a kitchen, complaining about how her husband ‘Paul’ is going on and on about boring man-things, like politics. She explains in simple terms (that even ladies can understand!) how our priorities should be our children. Because, obviously, children are women’s business, and all women have children. Men can deal with the other things, like economic policy because let’s face it, we’ve got to pack school lunches and squeeze in time for a manicure.
The advert was created because politicians realised there was going to be an underrepresentation of women voting in the upcoming referendum. But, did they really think that this was going to work? Shockingly enough, I don’t want to be represented as a mother, or a housewife, or somebody who needs to ask my husband’s advice on how I vote.
I want to be inspired by the suffragettes, I want to be shown an example of a strong woman who knows that her opinion matters, and that she is important. Don’t patronise me, and don’t pretend that you’re not doing it, either.
If I could vote in this referendum, I’d be voting yes – not because a man told me to, but because I’m a political woman who knows what she wants.