Buttrose's attack on Bishop is sexist The true sexist is Ita Buttrose, who sees a successful woman (a managing partner of a law firm, now deputy Liberal Party leader) and concludes she's just some man's "token woman": Disgraceful. We're back to where we were under John Howard, where the critics of the government seem slightly unhinged. And seem, dare I say it, to be projecting more than describing. Buttrose's slur suggests Bronwyn Bishop is right - that some people are so habituated to affirmative action appointments that they see a token woman even when staring right at a woman who's risen entirely on her merits: Likely Speaker Bronwyn Bishop says she never wants to see the Liberal Party embrace affirmative action as it would entrench women as ""permanent second-class citizens"." Reader Alan RM Jones: Some woman leaders are so awesome, a cabinet only needs one. Annabel Crabb: BRW publisher Amanda Gome went further: "Poor Julie Bishop. She should have taken a lesson from the trail blazing business women who broke into corporate boardrooms a few decades ago. Never be the token woman in the boardroom because suddenly your gender is the issue that defines who you are and how you are perceived.... Poor Julie Bishop, my arse. Julie Bishop is not a "token woman..." Julie Bishop is a woman who has never, as far as I can recall, had a concession made to her on account of her gender. In fact, I cannot even recall any instances of chivalry towards her displayed by her male colleagues, many of whom have cheerfully undermined and white-anted her just as viciously as they would any man whose job they wanted, which is what happened to her when she was shadow treasurer. She has played political games with the best of them. She has pursued a political career with relentless determination, and endured setbacks and humiliations along the way while never succumbing to self-doubt or self-pity... Lonely she might be in Tony Abbott's Cabinet, yes, but let's not insult her by dismissing her considerable achievements. .. Something weird always creeps in to this debate about women's representation in politics. And that is that some proponents of equal participation find it necessary to endorse only the participation of women they personally admire. Hands up anyone who, in the past week, has whined about the under-representation of women in the Abbott Cabinet, but rejoiced at the probable loss of Sophie Mirabella from the political landscape? Thanks to readers Gab and Peter of Bellevue Hill.