there's a video circulating about @BowinnMa and as a young woman in poli, here are my *nonpartisan* opinions. 1. this is an example of girl-on-girl crime. 2. BCpoli is an old boys club 3. the notion that women use their attractiveness/youth for political gain is harmful

1. girl-on-girl crime: (n) the behavior shown in the hit 2000s films Mean Girls, whereby girls hurt other girls. in many cases, this involves sneaky gossipy maneuvering to undercut a girl or woman's reputation.

I don't think I need to make an argument for that. this is a woman making jokes about another woman behind her back so it's pretty clear. Anyways, on to point 2. poli is an old boys club (yes, even bcpoli)

It is explicitly an old boys club in that there isn't gender equality in MLAs, the press gallery is mostly male (see the H+K tweet from a few days ago), and the leaders of both major parties are male. https://twitter.com/hk_canada/status/1313884742153101313

What is less explicit and what gives way to girl-on-girl crime is the old boys club culture that persists. Although I've met some amazing women in poli, I've also had some experiences that are not so welcoming.

I've watched men with largely the same experience and roles and responsibilities in campaigns get offered more volunteer experience, jobs, and networking post-campaign by men and women running campaigns.

frankly, we can say that it is equal but it is absolutely not. being a woman and networking with other women does not have the frat-like brotherhood that men have. and then being a woman and networking with men can be more awkward, imo.

for instance, here's one prominent woman's response to me outside an event I was covering and tried to make small talk about where the entrance was -- "I know I have a pass." (I said I do too, show martlet pass) "that's nice sweetie, but I have a real pass for this *walks away*"

I, of course, had an official pass waiting for me at the door...which brings me to 3. why it's so awful that this woman makes the assumption that MLA Ma tried to use her youthfulness/"it" to cozy up to a male politician from the opposition party and preoccupy him

I have been in multiple instances where young guys offer to help me get more contacts if I continue to hang out with them. They imply that if I date them, they can help my career. Also get invited to coffees/dinners/drinks dates under the guise of networking.

in the video, Ma is accused of cozying up to this older MLA. it harks forward some of these memories for me, because imo to think a woman would do that is probably more indicative of how these interactions are perceived, not reality.

it often falls on the woman to build up the confidence to keep on keeping on. At every step of my career, my gender has impacted my ability to get to the next step. At the first uni I went to, every prof in polisci was male (UofL -- may have changed since '16).

when I was 15 I went to a summer camp about the UN (I know, I am a NERD). A boy informed me after the camp had ended that all of the boys at the camp had done an informal vote, and I was declared the hottest girl at UN camp.

Not sure what I did to deserve that label and I find the whole thing hilarious now. We went on hikes and learned about the UN. I represented Iraq in a mock security council on Syria. (PS two people from the UN were there to network with us. they were both men.)

I know what you're thinking, though -- you're thinking I'm going to say "PUT MORE WOMEN IN POLITICS"... but no. It is unfortunately not that simple.

Everything above is based on my experience as a white woman. For IBPOC women and for the LGBTQ2S+ community, there are even more barriers that I can't speak to. but here's an article about some of these dynamics at UVic https://www.martlet.ca/bipoc-representation/

TL;DR ladies, we need to interrogate how we've internalized patriarchial + colonial norms in politics and stop committing girl-on-girl crime. It is so not fetch.