Leading Women
By Eva Cox
Random House, Australia, 1996. 326 pp., $19.95
Reviewed by Melanie Sjoberg
Society has changed considerably in the 25 years since Eva Cox became involved in the women's liberation movement. The strong activity of the second wave of feminism has placed women's demands firmly on the mainstream political and social agenda.
Young women have expectations about their life choices that are significantly wider than previous generations'. Married women had to resign from public service positions in the 1960s, and equal pay legislation was finally passed in 1972. Affirmative action and legislation against sexual discrimination have influenced most workplaces and social attitudes, along with community awareness of violence against women.
Despite these gains, the reality for many women is still far from equal. The average wages of women are only 84% of the male full-time wage. High proportions of women workers are concentrated in part-time employment in the clerical and services sectors, and women still retain the majority of domestic and child caring responsibilities. Government cuts to services and changes to social policy fall disproportionately on women.
These ongoing inequities and a more recent backlash which appears to be devaluing women's views, experience and contributions provide the basis for Eva Cox believing that a book about women and leadership was necessary. Cox admits that the number of women in positions of power is limited, citing figures that women are only 3% of board directors, 12% of lower house politicians and 15% of senior executive public servants as examples.
The book reads like a consciousness-raising session, reflected by Cox herself in describing the book as "like a long discussion in someone's living room". In introducing her subject, she says the book is "a mosaic that I have created by making patterns from half glimpsed images and by putting together pieces of apparently unrelated ideas and incidents".This style ensures that the book is readable, but is also its weakness, in that it lacks coherent argument or analysis.
Cox fluctuates between psychological and structural aspects of power and leadership. At times the reader is left confused about what or who are the real wielders of power. Cox suggests in places that the institutions of power are defined and controlled by men. Issues such as the market and economic measures are described as men's issues. Cox doesn't acknowledge that many male workers may also be disadvantaged by a profit-driven market system.
Similarly, government spending priorities on areas such as defence, trade, mining, industry and agriculture are referred to by Cox as "gendered" decisions. The government undervalues education, health and community services — clearly areas in which women predominantly pick up the pieces when decisions are made to reduce funding. Cox fails to identify this as an extension of women's domestic role and the cheap option this provides for an economic rationalist system, rather than merely a benefit to men.
There are some useful explorations of women's socialisation and how this detracts from women pursuing leadership positions. The role of the media is attacked for their creation of feminist stereotypes which are then used to discredit serious debate. Cox points out that it is the media barons who reward the proponents of rabid anti-feminist views, but fails to draw the connection between their wealth and power and the ability to encourage those views. Conversely, there are far too many pages spent on a psychological examination of the way women relate to each other and the need for women to overcome their perceived victim status.
According to Cox, it is necessary to adjust the balance between paid work, community and family time, for both men and women, if women are to take up the challenge of leadership. Utilising the language of the economic rationalists against them, Cox suggests a radical outsourcing solution to the double burden of women.
She claims that we need to shift away from the view that the family should perform the household tasks. Alternatives such as feeding children at school, communal laundries and widespread availability of child-care are preconditions for the full participation of women in society. Cox poses some appealing questions about the real efficiency of private domestic duties and suggests that perhaps socially based child-care offers a more suitable environment for the development of well-adjusted human beings.
The reader is left unclear about coherent strategies for taking on leadership. Cox makes some constructive suggestions, which include taking on positions of authority, speaking up and putting forward your own views. Women are encouraged to support each other, but also to learn how to deal with conflict and disapproval. Whilst these have some validity, they cannot be enacted in isolation from a collective understanding of how the system operates and the need to work together to achieve change. The real message Cox overlooks is that in order for most of her ideas to be put into practice, we need to rebuild a strong, independent women's movement.