Julia Gillard, Prime Minister

Australia now has an unapologetic feminist as Prime Minister.  I, for one, am very proud.

The way it came about, well I'm not so proud about that. Everyone knew Julia wanted to be PM someday, but I'm willing to bet even she isn't too happy with the way it went down. Maybe I'm being naive but personally, I believe that she only stood for the role because she knew that if she didn't, someone else would.

But, enough about that. I could do a whole other post on Kevin Rudd's downfall but I don't have the time or the energy to do so. Politics is a cut-throat, no-holds barred business and events like that of this week are par for the course.

There is no doubt that one of the most fantastic things to emerge from all this is that we have our first female Prime Minister. How awesome is that?  Something I didn't see happening so soon, but I felt if anyone could do it, Gillard could.

But this not intended to be a post about what Gillard should and should not do now that she is head of the government.  I want to talk about the obvious - gender and hair.

Much has already been written about what this means for women in Australia. Well aside from the knowledge that one more barrier has been broken in a move to equality, it's that girls and young women can see someone actually in a role to which they may aspire - that is the most immediate thing that may be taken away from this.

What I'm not looking forward to is the inevitable comments in the press about her dress and hairstyles. Much has been made of the fact that she is a red head.  She has even pointed out that she is not only a female PM but a red head to boot. Why does she draw attention to this fact? Because she is proud of it.

It's common in the Australian (and UK) communities to make fun of people with red hair, particularly when you are kids. All kids with red hair grow up being hassled and teased about the colour of their hair, and as you know, children can be quite cruel.

I was on the receiving end of this cruelty as a child. Nicknames such as "carrot-top" can sting; being interrogated by teenage boys when you are 13 about the colour of your pubes brings a whole other level of pain.

It took me a very long time before I could like my hair colour.

Adult red heads still face a lot of teasing about their hair and much of it is good-natured and easy to embrace; but the sting of childhood still remains.

It may seem strange that Julia will draw attention to any aspect of her looks since the media will be quite pleased to do that on her behalf, but it is pretty obvious that she has red hair and it is also plain that she is proud of that fact. In some ways, by pointing to her hair she is giving the media what they want without taking anything away from herself.

Because sooner rather than later the comments about her clothing and hair style and how she isn't "better" for women will begin.

With any luck, Andrew Meares is right when he says that gender will be an issue for a short period of time, but eventually Julia will just be another PM.

In the short term we should celebrate that a woman has been elevated to the role. It's been a long time coming.