We know, and it is often discussed on Menz, how women are held to different standards of accountability. In this post I want to look at a social anomaly in the way society responds to women.

The recent post Pussy Pass for Judith Collins looks at how British Prime Minister David Cameron and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key handled the financial scandals surrounding their respective ministers, Maria Miller and Judith Collins.

There are differences between the two situations, in that Maria Miller had her hand in the parliamentary till over expenses whereas Collins was using her ministerial warrant to advantage a company her family is heavy involved with, which also brings a cost to the taxpayer.

Both Prime Ministers initially went into bat for their ministers; Cameron didn’t know when to give up, and a severe public backlash eventually left a British prime minister red faced at his own behaviour – trying to defend the indefensible.

Key on the other hand has continued to stand behind Judith Collins and apologise on her behalf; this may have been because Collins is considered too big to fail, but the fallout was predictable. A recent poll saw a similar backlash from the New Zealand public such as that experienced by David Cameron over his handling of the Millar scandal. Collins may be on sick leave, but this is not over yet.

There is another factor at play here. One that is not often tested in the political arena, and that is female financial integrity.

Correct me if I am wrong, but my feeling is that women loose their gender immunity when the nature of the offending requires financial accountability. This is a big no-no, especially for women in places of power and authority. This is a depth to which it is expected women will not descend; and when they do – society pulls that ‘walk of right’ that protective pathway that women are so accustomed to, right out from under them.

Women can and do get away with many things they shouldn’t (in a supposedly equal society) but such behaviour instantly takes them down off that pedestal. We’ve seen it other cases outside of politics, where women have sacrificed their financial integrity for personal gain and suffered the consequences.

I’ve been watching this one closely and I had to chuckle when Judith Collins declared New Zealand to be ‘on a witch hunt’. The irony. As I said in Pussy Pass (2) for Judith Collins I have no doubt she knew what she was doing but I’m not sure that Collins actually understands the position she has put herself and her political party in. Collins is not representative of women in parliament, or of women that public opinion supports in parliament. It is times like these that a MPs individual achievements quickly lose their significance.

Collins has dished up a fait accompli for both herself and her political party.

When Collins decided to undertake to push her own barrow across the Chinese border to have Oravida exports excused from border controls, the damage was already done; it was only a question of if or when she got caught. When she did, the prospect of standing down a minister of justice, a potential party leader, and turning on a major party-donor, set up the too-big-to-fail conflict faced by John Key and the New Zealand National Party.

The National Party have lost their decisive lead in the run up to this year’s parliamentary election – if they turn up the loser’s card come election day there will be considerable debate over how much Collins contributed to that failure. Regardless of the outcome though, this Collinsian behaviour will not only be indelibly etched in New Zealand political history but the name should gain recognition by definition in its own right, and without doubt will be a much more considered factor in the decision making of future leaders. (Perhaps that also of John Key in the not too distant future)

These two examples show just how strongly female financial integrity (FFI) is ingrained in not just a national psyche but the human psyche. When it comes to the FFI index, there are only two standards – a healthy-pass or a big-fail. Cameron learnt the hard way. Is Key still on his learning curse? There’s visible damage and a gaping hole in the body armour of the smiling assassin.

Do you feel the same way – about women and financial integrity – does the sympathy card go out the window?

Has Judith Collins as a Lawyer, past president of a Law Society, MP, Minister of Justice, come up with the biggest fail since the liberation of women in New Zealand?

When John Key said New Zealanders weren’t concerned about this; did he, like David Cameron, get it seriously wrong?

Do you think there is any other situation where women are judged more harshly when it comes to losing the sympathy card?