Prepare Your Best Pearls For Clutching

Did you know The Queen was in Australia? I did not, granted I don't live there anymore but most of the people I'm friends with on Facebook do and a fair amount of my twitter followers are Australian. Exactly none of them mentioned her visit that I saw.  The reason I found out is that for some reason Google News still thinks I live in Australia and gives me the Australian news page.

That's not really what I want to talk about although I find it interesting that the articles I read talked about how much Australia loves the Monarchy and how another referendum on the Republic is years away. How everyone is obsessed with William & Kate and yet no one was talking about the visit at all. Either my friends are not a good cross section of society (probably true of my twitter friends who tend to be more progressive, but I think my FB friends have a fair range of views) or the media is making up that we are in love with The Queen when in reality we just don't give a flying fuck either way.

What I wanted to talk about was the faux outrage about Julia Gillard not curtsying Her Majesty. Gillard, a Republican* greeted The Queen with the Governor General. Ms Gillard did not curtsy. She does not have to, it is a matter of personal choice for Australians how they greet Her Majesty. Gillard shook her hand and gave a slight bow (although she could just be leaning down to speak to The Queen who is shorter than her).  Of course this was a big deal. Fainting couches were dusted of as The Media decided this was the biggest thing going on in the world ever, Gillard was disrespectful, she should have kept her personal feelings about the Monarchy to herself.  However when Opposition Leader Tony Abbott met The Queen he did not bow, he gave a "little head nod", apparently after shaking her hand, Gillard, at least at their second meeting, bowed, walked to Her Majesty, bowed again then shook hands.

Something about the coverage bothered me. I tried to chalk it up to the fact that Gillard is exceptionally unpopular at the moment and every move she makes is criticized. There was probably no way she could have greeted The Queen correctly in people's view. But I feel like there is something deeper going on. Some how it is ok for Abbott not to bow but its not ok for Gillard to bow. Is it because she is the Prime Minister? Or is it because she is a woman, a woman who is already subverting norms by not getting married (she lives with her male partner) and not having children? She cannot greet The Queen with a handshake and a bow, she must curtsy because Curtsying Is What Women Do.

Am I reading too much into this? I have trouble some time recognizing the difference between shitty journalism and misogynistic journalism.  Thoughts?





*For my American friends, for the purposes of this post Republican means someone who thinks The Queen should no longer be Australia's head of state. They are generally politically leftist although I am sure there is a lot of crossover. To confuse things further Tony Abbott who I will talk about later is the leader of the Liberal party which is Australia's right wing party. 
So its:
Julia Gillard: Prime Minister/Republican/Labor Party - left of centre
Tony Abbott: Opposition Leader/Monarchist/Liberal Party - right of centre