New photo please

I’ve become a little bit tired of the photo of Prime Minister Julia Gillard being ushered away by her security guard from the Australia Day protests. The photo seems to be everywhere and has featured prominently on numerous national news websites. And now with the Opposition calling for an official investigation into the incident, the photo was back on stage this morning.

The thing that annoys me the most is how our PM has been painted as the “damsel in distress”. I already feel that she is the victim of sexist views as our first female PM and this image merely adds fuel to the fire. I’ve even heard people suggesting that this was her chance to leave her legacy and perhaps even show us what she was made of. That’s ridiculous. I’d imagine a more important legacy would be the type of policy and long-term changes that she can bring to our country.

And how exactly would John Howard or Kevin Rudd have responded to such a moment? I can’t exactly picture them making a heroic exit, walking calmly and unflinching through a hectic throng of people.

So hopefully the media outlets will start to ration the use of this photo. And I also hope that people will forget about our PM’s gender and let her get on with the job of running our country.