We’ve Come A Long Way Baby

or have we?

I was listening to CBC Radio in the car this evening….on my way to pick up dinner (don’t say a word).

They were talking about Linda Keen.  She is the now former President of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Council.  She was fired from the position by the Harper Government.  She was fired a day before she was supposed speak before a House of Commons Committee on the subject of the Chalke River Nuclear Plant.

She was finally able today to say her piece to the committee.

I have admired her strong stance on the closure of the plant due to safety issues, as well as her reticence at its reopening.

I don’t know about you, but when I am in the car alone and listening to any sort of talk or news radio, I tend to have little dialogues (mostly) in my head about whatever the topic is..especially if it is something I am interested in.

So as I listened to this report and some sound bites from her speech to the committee - a committee consisting of key members of the House of Commons, the thought floated through my head that I thought she was very gutsy to stand there and speak her mind and to stand up for her decision.

Then I wondered why I thought that.

Would I think it gutsy if Ms. Keen had been a Mr. Keen?

Why would I even think about a woman having the GUTS to speak to a primarily male dominated committee?

Ms. Keen is a highly educated woman with knowledge and experience on her side.  She have every right to be there.  Her decisions were based on what her experience and education were telling her.   As they would if it was a man.

I still thought about her being intimidated by the men in that room.

Which is silly, because there were females MP’s in that room too.  Women who had earned that place (no matter what you think of their politics) as much as the men had.

Granted there are still more men than women in Federal AND Provincial politics.  The balance of power is not yet equal by any means.

But there are women across Canada and the world who hold very high positions of power  in the private and public sectors.

But…but again. We still live in a world where Hillary Clinton is judged more on what she wore to a debate than what she said.

So the hang ups are still obviously there.  And not just in men’s psyche’s either.  The hang ups and stereotypes are still there in women’s psyche’s too.

That ghost of the idea that women like Keen are stepping into a man’s world still haunts even left wing feminists like me.

That twinge of insecurity….that worry about ‘what will they think’ is still there when I hear a woman speaking up for a big issue.

A big issue like nuclear safety.

I wonder then, is feminism doing a good job.  Will I pass on my own insecurities to my daughter?  I hope not.   But how.

How do we take that next big step.

How do we make sure little thoughts like that don’t slip into the minds of the future female president of the CNSC.  Or Presidents.  Or Prime Ministers.