{"id":266955,"date":"2019-02-19T11:31:17","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T16:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/the-silence-shame-double-bind-for-women-in-power\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T22:24:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T02:24:51","slug":"the-silence-shame-double-bind-for-women-in-power","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2019\/02\/the-silence-shame-double-bind-for-women-in-power\/","title":{"rendered":"The silence\/shame double bind for women in power"},"content":{"rendered":"

The saga unfolding around former Liberal cabinet minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has been characterized as many things \u2013 evidence of the old guard<\/a> that still pulls the levers in Ottawa, of the over-centralization of power<\/a> in the PMO, and of hypocrisy in the Liberal government\u2019s promises<\/a> of reconciliation and feminist government. But it is also fundamentally about gender and power \u2013 about shaming and silencing. It\u2019s about who is expected to keep quiet and whose voices are heard.<\/p>\n

Powerful women are often ridiculed and disgraced for their public speech, as I detail in my book Ms. Prime Minister<\/a>. For example, former prime minister Kim Campbell\u2019s speaking style was characterized as shrill, strident, arrogant and hectoring, reflecting unease with her desire to seek and hold power. A vocabulary of expletives is routinely mobilized to condemn women who speak out. Political scientist Kathleen Hall Jamieson calls this the \u201csilence\/shame\u201d double bind: Stay silent and be powerless, speak out and be shamed. After all, women\u2019s silence represents submission to patriarchal authority structures. Speech, on the other hand, epitomizes defiance of such authority, and it evokes fear. What will women say? What kind of damage might it do to the men who hold power? The discomfort with women\u2019s speech is evident in the attempts to silence and shame Jody Wilson-Raybould.<\/p>\n

First there was the demotion. In retrospect it served as an act of silencing. Wilson-Raybould, widely celebrated for the experience and skills she brought to the high-profile Justice portfolio, was shuffled to Veterans Affairs. Journalists and political observers alike were puzzled. Why was a woman who was chosen for the post because of her commitment to enacting justice for Indigenous peoples unceremoniously removed without any apparent (or good) reason? Further, why would a prime minister risk his government\u2019s \u201creal change\u201d mantra, along with his own claim to a feminist ethic, by moving Wilson-Raybould into a lower-profile position?<\/p>\n

In the wake of the shuffle, Wilson-Raybould was expected to say nothing, rendered mute by allegiance to the party team and her position in cabinet. But she refused to stay completely silent. With a sharply pointed statement<\/a>, the minister raised the question of illegality and impropriety: \u201cIt is a pillar of our democracy that our system be free from even the perception of political interference.\u201d Her willingness to \u201cspeak truth to power\u201d as attorney general had sparked her removal from the justice portfolio, she implied.<\/p>\n

Then the Globe and Mail<\/em>\u2019s<\/em> bombshell story<\/a> broke, indicating that Wilson-Raybould\u2019s demotion was prompted by her refusal to cave to the PMO\u2019s insistence that she drop a criminal case against SNC-Lavalin in favour of a form of plea-bargain. The prime minister denied \u201cdirecting\u201d the minister in this manner, but he carefully dodged the question of whether there had been more subtle or subterranean forms of pressure. It seemed powerful forces, wary of the \u201cwrong\u201d outcome, wanted Wilson-Raybould removed from her position of power over their economic and political fortunes.<\/p>\n

What followed was a period during which he (Trudeau) said a lot while she (Wilson-Raybould) couldn\u2019t say anything. Bound by norms of cabinet confidentiality and solicitor-client privilege, the minister declined to comment. Meanwhile, other men spoke freely, including the newly appointed justice minister, David Lametti. The prime minister insisted that Wilson-Raybould\u2019s continued presence in cabinet \u201cspoke for itself.\u201d Plus, the decision about whether or not to prosecute SNC-Lavalin was \u201chers alone.\u201d But if Wilson-Raybould had this power, and was allowed to use it, why demote her?<\/p>\n

The situation was spiraling out of control, and party insiders adopted a tried and true containment technique \u2013 condemnation. A Canadian Press story<\/a> cited anonymous Liberals declaring Wilson-Raybould \u201ca thorn in the side of the cabinet\u201d because she was \u201cdifficult to get along with.\u201d Moreover, they asserted, she was untrustworthy, selfish, and power hungry (\u201cin it for herself\u201d). Commentators quickly called out the gendered assumptions<\/a> underpinning the trope of the unruly, power-mad woman. She was shuffled because she couldn\u2019t speak French<\/a>, noted one MP.<\/p>\n

Wilson-Raybould replied by resigning from cabinet, and her letter to the prime minister<\/a> spoke volumes. \u201cWhen I sought federal elected office, it was with the goal of implementing a positive and progressive vision of change on behalf of all Canadians and a different way of doing politics\u2026. This work must and will carry on.\u201d This goal collided with powerful interests, was the implication. Further, by revealing that she had retained counsel to determine what she is \u201clegally permitted to discuss,\u201d Wilson-Raybould served notice: you cannot and will not shut me up.<\/p>\n

Trudeau\u2019s response can be summarized in two words: blame Jody. Questioned about the resignation at a press conference<\/a>, he infantilized Wilson-Raybould by repeatedly addressing her by her first name. And, in a classic case of victim-blaming, the PM attributed responsibility to Wilson-Raybould herself. If there had been a concern about impropriety or political interference, Trudeau maintained, it was \u201cJody\u2019s\u201d fault for not bringing it to his attention: \u201cIf anyone, particularly the attorney general, felt that we were not doing our job fully, responsibly, and according to all the rules as a government, it was her responsibility to come forward to me this past fall\u2026. She did not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Political cartoonists reacted by drawing Trudeau in the boxing ring, facing off in a grotesquely unfair fight against a bound-and gagged Wilson-Raybould. While the cartoons have been roundly condemned on social media for normalizing violence against women, the fundamental message \u2013 the sexist dimension of Wilson-Raybould\u2019s silencing \u2013 cannot easily be dismissed.<\/p>\n

As the nation awaits the next act in this saga, one thing is clear; attempts to disgrace the former minister are not working. Polling shows that the public is firmly on her side. Of those who are following the story, most see Wilson-Raybould as more credible than Trudeau<\/a>. So, when she is finally able to break the silence, Canadians will be listening. \u00a0We should pay careful attention, not just to Wilson-Raybould\u2019s words, but to the possibility she will be censured just for being the woman who speaks them.<\/p>\n

Photo:\u00a0Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former minister of justice and attorney general of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould take part in the grand entrance as the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation commission is released, on December 15, 2015 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Adrian Wyld<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

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The saga unfolding around former Liberal cabinet minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has been characterized as many things \u2013 evidence of the old guard that still pulls the levers in Ottawa, of the over-centralization of power in the PMO, and of hypocrisy in the Liberal government\u2019s promises of reconciliation and feminist government. But it is also fundamentally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":275247,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-08T02:24:54Z","apple_news_api_id":"ec388925-3f8c-43e6-b8bd-0ee2bfd790a0","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-10-08T02:24:54Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A7DiJJT-MQ-a4vQ7iv9eQoA","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[9385,9358,9372],"tags":[],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[4295],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[7136],"class_list":["post-266955","issues","type-issues","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medias-et-culture","category-politique","category-recent-stories-fr","irpp-category-politique","irpp-tag-medias-et-culture"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe silence\/shame double bind for women in power<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2019\/02\/the-silence-shame-double-bind-for-women-in-power\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The silence\/shame double bind for women in power\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The saga unfolding around former Liberal cabinet minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has been characterized as many things \u2013 evidence of the old guard that still pulls the levers in Ottawa, of the over-centralization of power in the PMO, and of hypocrisy in the Liberal government\u2019s promises of reconciliation and feminist government. 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