In an article published in Independent Australia on 23 February 2021, Carl Rhodes, Celina McEwen, and Alison Pullen briefly tackle the issue of why the Australian Prime Minister’s response to recent the allegations of rape in parliament is woefully inadequate.
We point out that most of the criticisms have been about Morrison having to defer to his wife for a moral position on rape, and him responding ‘as a father’. We find that this underestimates the real meaning of what is happening .
Based on our own research on leadership, ethics and diversity, we argue that the use of this father motif as a presumed source of empathy reveals the essential patriarchy of his response. More so, we put forward that this is simply the counterpart (rather than an antidote) to the male power deployed in sexual violence. We suggest that there is a need for a commitment to broader institutional, structural and cultural change, not masculine patronising.
Read the full article here.
Leadership Diversity through Relational Intersectionality in Australia 