notice anything interesting about this group of people?
Taito Philip Field, John Tamihere, Clayton Cosgrove, Damien O'Connor, Ross Robertson, Harry Duynhoven
All Labour MPs,
all in safe electorates (maybe not Tamihere),
all voted against the CUB,
all moral conservatives,
and
all men.
I know there are women who voted against the CUB too, but it is quite telling that in Labour it is only men who have tried to vote it down.
It's a generalisation I know, but in my experience women seem to be more able to empathise with the situation of minorities, whether they are in that minority or not.
4 comments:
umm. no you`re wrong, its just that the men have got the balls to stand up to Maharey, Cullen and Carter whereas the women and Choudhary buckle.
Certainly analysis of polls, election results etc has shown that in terms of their voting behaviour more women fall into the 'liberal' block, and more men into the 'conservative' block (yes, I know, the terms 'liberal' and 'conservative' are hugely problematic in themselves, let alone the basis on which an individual might be categorised as 'liberal' or 'conservative', but still).
Mabye it is just that more women find the idea of homosexuality less threatening to their personal identity - that is to say, they don't let their own homophobia get the way when examining the civil union issue.
Actually, I agree with you span, that to often people are affiliated to different parties on different issues, and they prioritise things differently at different times, resulting in more fluid voting patterns. I wonder in what ways MMP has affected this pattern as well. And sorry, but I agree with you about the civil union bill too - that all the rhetoric and lobbying and campaigning will really only result in a reshuffle of priorities, rather than changing minds and hearts.
i wonder if the reason women are less threatened about homosexuality ties into the possibility that we are less likely to think someone is attracted to us than men are? Therefore when a woman finds out another woman is a lesbian they aren't worried that their friend will want to be more, unlike men who often seem amazingly surprised that every gay man on the block doesn't want to get into their trousers.
and a belated thanks to Anon #2 in this thread who is not in fact Anon to me i discovered this arvo, and is most welcome and should comment more :-)
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