Women Politicians Branded ‘Too Emotional’, Flax-Charles Says
Former legislator Shereen Flax-Charles. (FB) Former legislator Shereen Flax-Charles says women in BVI politics can be labelled “too aggressive” or “too emotional” when they speak firmly about public issues.
Former legislator Shereen Flax-Charles. (FB) Former legislator Shereen Flax-Charles says women in BVI politics can be labelled “too aggressive” or “too emotional” when they speak firmly about public issues. Appearing on the Talking Points show recently, Flax-Charles linked those labels to a wider problem she said she encountered in government: people with ideas being prevented from carrying them out, sometimes by members of their own team. “Sometimes things are not going to get done because it might have been Violet’s idea,” she said, referring to programme host Violet Gaul.
Flax-Charles said ego could stand in the way of work intended to improve people’s lives. “When you get there, sometimes the very people on the team that you’re on, they prevent you from getting those things done,” she said. She then raised the issue of how women are treated. “Sometimes being a woman can be a problem.
Or you’re too, you know what they usually like [to say]: you’re too emotional,” Flax-Charles said. “They would never say that to a man,” she added. Flax-Charles did not name anyone who had used those descriptions. She said she wanted people working towards the same goal to cooperate even when they disagreed. “We need to work together,” she said.
Asked about her own approach to disagreements, Flax-Charles said she felt obliged to speak when she opposed a proposal. “I’ve been accused of not being a team player. She recalled telling colleagues during her time in the House of Assembly with the Virgin Islands Party when she could not support an issue or vote for it.
Primary source: BVI News