36. Run the World (Girls) – Beyonce 2011

 

To the other men that respect what I do

Please accept my shine

Boy, you know you love it

How we're smart enough to make these millions

Strong enough to bear the children

Then get back to business

 

It’s been almost a year since America voted in its first female Vice President, and the sky hasn’t fallen.

@KamalaHarris has clearly inspired a generation of women by reaching the second highest office in American politics, and she may yet reach the highest office. However, before Kamala Harris became the Veep she had a distinguished legal career - the first Black district attorney in California, the first Black and South Asian American attorney general in California, and the first South Asian American woman and second Black woman in the U.S. Senate.

Meanwhile in Australia . . .

I really can’t say much more than this excellent article by @Dr_KMcLoughlin, so I’ll just highlight my key take home points from it.

When eminent and obviously appropriate men judges are appointed in Australia little needs to be said about the matter. It is taken that they were appointed on the basis of merit rather than for some other, less legitimate, reason.

the relationship between diversity and merit needs to be recast

rejecting the false dichotomy between merit and diversity and seeking both explicitly

and unashamedly in judicial appointments

. . . rejecting the false dichotomy between merit and diversity and seeking both explicitly and unashamedly in judicial appointments.

Diversity and merit are not mutually exclusive.

. . . since Mary Gaudron [first female High Court appointment in 1986] was appointed there have been 15 appointments to the High Court and only four of them women

. . . since Mary Gaudron [first female High Court appointment in 1986] was appointed there have been 15 appointments to the High Court and only four of them women.

While not referenced in Kcasey McLoughlin’s article, the statistics indicate that women are, in fact, generally better qualified to hold positions requiring qualifications. Mind you, the data also indicates that:

·       despite being better educated than our male counterparts, we still earn less than them

·       we’re going to live longer than males . . . with less super

·       only 17.1% of CEOs are female

·       as of June 2020 37% of Commonwealth Justices and Judges were women, the highest proportion over the past decade.

This last titbit pulled from the Australian Bureau of Statistics is a further indication of how disproportionate the High Court appointment are, with only 27% percent of appointments since 1986 being female.

Run the world? Maybe, but we’re not exactly ruling the world yet. We’re not even at proportional representation yet.

 

Beyoncé - Run the World (Girls) (Official Video) - Bing video