Step aside, DC’s Trinity: There’s a new superhero trio on the block. They’re tough, they’re righteous, and they’re fighting the toughest crime of all: misogyny. Who are the brave warriors behind this triumvirate? Why, it’s none other than Chris Hipkins, Chris Luxon, and Chris Bishop. That’s right, the fifth wave of feminism is being spearheaded right here in Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud, by three men named Chris.
Following Stuart Nash’s universally not cool comments about Katie Nimon being “lazy” for taking parental leave, these men fearlessly went against the grain to point out the obvious and tell the world that Nash… should not have said that. Luxon was so steadfast in his revolutionary opinion that he didn’t even need to sugarcoat his criticism by calling the remarks “inappropriate and attention-seeking” or “unhelpful”. It would be a different story if Nash said something racist (like his fellow NZ First party members) as Luxon is still deciding where he stands on that social issue, but I digress.
Hipkins used the scandal as an opportunity to brag about how he knew something was up with Nash when he leaked confidential Labour Party information back in 2023. Hipkins was so ahead of his time that he kicked Nash out of the Labour Party, so you should vote for Labour. I mean, their leader must have a sixth sense or something.
Chris Bishop said something I don’t care about.
This is all to say that these men don’t care about women. Okay, that’s a bit harsh. I don’t think any of them are truly misogynistic. They probably genuinely care about how Nimon was affected by Nash’s comments. They also probably care a lot about our vote.
The way in which these politicians neatly segued into a “vote for us” campaign is not genuine activism. Nimon (the human being affected) was a mere blip in their statements. It almost makes you wonder if they would have cared had these comments not been made so close to an election. If only Nash had made similar comments in the past that we could compare this political response to.
Oh wait! Less than a year ago, Nash went on the record to say that a woman is someone with “a pussy and a pair of tits”.
I’m starting to think Hipkins’ hunch was not the stroke of genius he made it out to be.
The three Chrises did not have nearly as firm a response to that spectacular vomit of words. Nash continued to have a political career, and the cogs kept turning in the old-white-man-in-power machine.
Let’s not be fooled by this very thinly veiled campaign. The party that made cuts to Pay Equity will not be the party that pioneers a new feminist movement. The party that claims to be center left while really doing a whole lot of nothing does not have anything new to say about sexism in parliament.
The political response to sexism against an MP feels at best, performative, and at worst, insulting. While Stuart Nash views women as steaks of meat with pussies and pairs of tits, the Chrises of New Zealand Parliament view us as nothing more than stakeholders to get them through to the next election.
