Women can be force for political change

AUDREY YOUNG meets the star turn of this week's Apec women's conference, and learns some of the secrets and problems of power.

The Apec women's leadership conference ended in Wellington yesterday with the obligatory communique to be pressed upon the organisation's male-dominated trade ministers and leaders.

But the big talking point - over the teacups anyway - was not the finer details of freer trade.

Attention focused on Laura Liswood, a quietly spoken American who founded the Council of World Women Leaders.

She interviewed all 15 women leaders of the world in 1994, including Margaret Thatcher in Britain, Mary Robinson in Ireland, Corazon Aquino in the Philippines, Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan and Tansu Ciller in Turkey.

All are out of office today, but the world now has 27 women leaders.

Laura Liswood's simple conclusions struck a familiar chord with the 350 women at the three-day conference, whether they were in business, academics, professionals or politicians.

"Generally speaking the women felt they were over-scrutinised, that the standard by which they were measured was different from the standard by which men were measured."

They felt the definition of assertiveness was different for a man.

"I heard the definition of an assertive man is someone who bombs a small country, and the definition of an assertive woman is someone who puts you on hold on the telephone."

Most of the women she interviewed had been familiar with politics from childhood. One-third succeeded fathers or husbands, and almost all had a family member in national or local politics.

She called it the Uncle Louie Effect: "If Uncle Louie, the idiot, can do it, I can do it."

Almost all had a nickname or were called by their first name, like Maggie (Thatcher) or Cory (Aquino), which meant people felt less alienated.

"People trust women in the political process more than they trust men. Whether that is valid or not, it is at the moment what people believe."

Laura Liswood said women, historically powerless, were more inclined to represent the possibility of change and unity than men.

But having women leaders did not necessarily lead to change.

She gauged that there had to be a critical mass of about 35 per cent of women in a parliament for that to happen; in New Zealand 28 per cent of MPs are women.

Women catapulted to power to succeed husbands or fathers - as most women leaders in Asia had been - suffered real limits on their ability to effect change, because they did not have that essential critical mass beneath them.

Those she interviewed generally believed they had a different style of leadership, that they listened more, were more consensus-oriented, empathetic and focused on relationships

Laura Liswood said male leaders had to get better at consensus and relationships, and women had to learn from the men and state their views more directly and loudly in the midst of conflict.

One of the biggest barriers to women in leadership roles was "the cultural legends of leadership."

"It's the young man who goes out and conquers the world and comes back a hero. The young woman waits for her prince to rescue her. Cinderella has serious conversations with mice.

"We need to change these myths for the young girls so they understand themselves as leaders. And young men have to get used to being led by a young woman.

"That's why it is very powerful to have two women among the top leaders in this country, because the young men see it, and see that women can be as forceful, forthright and full of ideas as the men."