Written by Alison Paton, BA Politics, International Relations and Social Policy
This is the third in our series of blog posts by students on the Feminism and Politics class 2021. Click here for the previous post by Lucy McGhee on Kamala Harris and political representation.
If you were asked to name feminist heroes, Emmeline Pankhurst, Malala Yousafzai or Amanda Gorman might spring to mind. With her passion for local government politics, nail art and her no-nonsense attitude, Jackie Weaver is definitely a new name to add to your list.
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| Jackie Weaver, Chief Officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, at the Handforth Parish Council Meeting of 10 December 2020 (video still) |
source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgGmYeAm0jk&t=466s
In summary, the committee meeting had been called legally by two parish councillors, much to the dismay of a few committee members. It is still unknown why the committee members in question refused to accept that the meeting had been called “in accordance with the law”. What is clear is that the anger felt by these committee members was so strong that it subsequently led to a string of verbal attacks directed toward the woman chairing the meeting.
Enter Jackie Weaver, the Chief Officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, now turned feminist icon, who took matters into her own hands after a series of verbal assaults, with what can only be described as misogynistic undertones, were directed towards her. Jackie attended the zoom meeting in the capacity of “offering support to Handforth Parish Council in the conduct of this meeting this evening”- a mediator. Appearing unhappy and disgruntled with Jackie Weaver’s presence at the committee meeting, the first outburst from “Handforth PC Clerk” that can be seen in the clip below abruptly shouted at Jackie “Will you stop talking…will you stop being whatever it is you’re trying to be and just clerk the meeting”.
The second outburst followed minutes later, whereby “Handforth PC Clerk” continued to undermine Jackie Weaver’s role as mediator and chair of the meeting by rudely stating “You have no authority here Jackie Weaver, no authority at all”.
After several minutes of disruption and targeted abuse, as mediator and chair, Jackie swiftly removed the individual from the virtual meeting. This led to what can be described as the most overtly aggressive comment of the night screamed by “Aled’s iPad”, “read the standing orders, read them and understand them”
In interviews since the meeting went viral, committee members have disclosed that the onslaught Jackie faced was not an isolated incident. It was commonplace for the men - Brian Tolver (Handforth PC Clerk) and Aled Brewerton (Aled’s iPad) - to not only cause disruption, but also be outwardly aggressive to women attending that they deemed to stand in the way of their agenda.
Disruptive outbursts aside, the detail and nature of the comments made in the viral video were often rooted in the questioning of Jackie Weaver’s legitimacy, presence and understanding of the local parish law. Given Jackie’s role as Chief Officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, we can confidently assume that she is more than aware of the rules and law surrounding parish council committee meetings.
While some may see all this for what it is at face value, a funny viral video, analysing the incident through a gender lens reveals the very real struggles that women face when actively participating in politics of any level. These struggles are widely discussed in feminist scholarship.
For example, one of the arguments in Kate Manne’s Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny suggests that because the political activity of women goes against entrenched gender roles and traditions, those who attack women for this transgression into an area that is not traditionally theirs, are motivated by misogyny.
These concerns are further echoed through subsets of feminist literature exploring violence against women in politics, claiming that politically active women face abuse and intimidation because they are women entering into a political space. Kathleen Dolan’s theory of gender stereotypes in politics draws further on this notion, asserting that women have often been excluded from political participation due to the belief that they did not have the necessary abilities or skillset to contribute meaningfully to politics. The ideas presented by Manne and Dolan are reflected in the case of Jackie Weaver. Despite her skills and expertise in this area, she was repeatedly attacked. One committee member stated in a rather aggressive manner “What are you talking about, you don’t know what you’re talking about”, despite Jackie knowing fully what she was talking about. This was followed by a chorus of laughter from the other men in the zoom meeting. I don’t think it is wrong to assume that the men in question feel like their space is being imposed on by a woman who has been put in charge, as these feelings are reflected in their aggressions toward Jackie. The views and beliefs these men may hold arguably stem from gender stereotypes of women. The presence of Jackie and other woman attending the meeting shows that whilst woman are no longer entirely excluded from politics, there is no guarantee that those who make it through will be treated as equal to their male counterparts.
This idea is discussed by Elizabeth Evans, in her analysis of competing feminist views on representation. The liberal feminist view advocates that “women should be where the power lies” as a way of advancing gender equality. However, the case of Jackie Weaver poses questions for this view. Jackie was “where the power lay”, but was still faced with challenges stemming from entrenched gender inequality and misogyny. There seems to be evidence here to support a more radical feminist view of representation, which advocates for the dismantlement of institutions and cultures that continue to uphold the patriarchy, assisting in the exclusion of women. Radical change will arguably not occur whilst women participate the institutions that oppress and exclude them in the first place. Certainly, it is clear that we need wider social and cultural change beyond the institutions themselves.
In his work The Political Role of Women, written almost 70 years ago, Maurice Duverger suggested that public opposition to women and low opinion of their ability to govern were contributing factors to women’s limited participation and underrepresentation in politics. It is disheartening that this still may be a reality today. Furthermore, mothers may fare even worse. In their book Mothers & Others: The Role of Parenthood in Politics, Melanee Thomas and Amanda Bittner argue that compared to their male counterparts, women disproportionately face the political ramifications of parenthood, this is what they coin “a motherhood penalty”. In an interview, Councillor John Smith disclosed that Brian Tolver and Aled Brewerton had previously targeted abuse toward two young women from the committee, which subsequently discouraged them from standing for council and partaking in the parish council entirely. The targeted abuse included harassment by email and most disturbingly, yet not surprisingly, using their status as mothers against them. This is a feminist issue that goes beyond the realms of politics, where motherhood in all contexts is often weaponised against women.
The case of Jackie Weaver illuminates a number of issues within both politics and wider society regarding women’s representation and participation. Whilst parish councils represent the lowest level of local government in England, the concept of “engendering democracy”, coined by Anne Philips, should not just be reserved for national levels of politics. Tackling everyday sexism and misogyny, as displayed through the committee meeting, starts from the bottom up and is essential to bringing about the change we so desire. We cannot solely rely on a Jackie Weaver figure to pop up now and then to remind us that the institutions in which we function and which govern our lives still fundamentally preserve and give control to patriarchal norms, much to the detriment of those who do not fit the hegemonic male stereotype. In my view, we need both liberal and radical feminist approaches to representation: whilst radical change is needed to transform oppressive institutions, it is equally important that woman are given equal opportunity to be “where the power lies”. The participation in local government of women like Jackie Weaver (who did in fact have the authority) is essential to empowering and challenging others, whilst we continue to strive for equal representation and treatment throughout our political system.
Click here for the next blog post in this series, on the feminist case for the abolition of the British monarchy.
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