Just how low can Australia's public discussion go? Pretty low, if the last few days have proved anything.

It's been a dismal week for Australian feminism, with the country's first female prime minister questioned over her partner's sexual orientation by radio host Howard Sattler. The rumours were then repeated on the ABC's Sunday morning Insiders program. To top it all off, Julia Gillard was later upbraided by a right-wing industrial relations consultant for showing "too much cleavage" in parliament.

The disrespectful remarks never really stopped - worse, they just keep on coming. Last week, shadow treasurer Joe Hockey tweeted out that Gillard “has never deserved respect and will never receive it.” During her parliamentary career, Gillard has been called “deliberately barren” by a political opponent, and has been attacked by News Limited columnist Janet Albrechtson as having “showcased a bare home and an empty kitchen as badges of honour and commitment to her career.”

Whether you think Gillard has been a good prime minister or a poor one, the highly sexualised attacks against her person are on the public record for all to see. The avalanche of personal slurs against the prime minister has snowballed so far, overseas media outlets are starting to take note of it.

Except, unfortunately, many can't see it. For many Australians, including many men, the idea that Gillard is on the receiving end of a torrent of sexual abuse is just too hard to cope with. As a fellow on Twitter remarked to me yesterday about the Sattler interview, the interview was “hardly sexist”. No, he went on, “she is an incompetent leader who back-stabbed the PM of the country. That is why she is hated.” Incompetence and backstabbing – there's a couple of gender stereotypes we see time and again in the way the prime minister is discussed.

It's not just the froth and bubble of social media. Robust opinion poll data shows the trend. Gillard is particularly unpopular with men, and the trend shows up in different polls by different pollsters.

In the wake of Gillard's speech last about men in blue ties and abortion, the trend has worsened. Nielsen's John Stirton tells us that “Labor's primary vote was down 7 points among men.” The Australian Financial Review's front page screamed this morning, “Men in revolt against Gillard”.

There's no doubt that abortion is a divisive issue. But few seem to have bothered to read the full speech, which is actually quite moderate. Gillard's decision to raise abortion and gender issues is hardly beyond the pale. How can it be? These are vital social issues of the utmost ethical significance.

In any case, the Gillard hatred is not really about abortion. It's about power.

The truth is that many men find gender discussions uncomfortable. They find them uncomfortable because they threaten male power. The most anti-Gillard segment of the community is older white males – precisely the most privileged demographic in Australian society. For men like Alan Jones, Andrew Bolt and Howard Sattler, it really does appear as though a female prime minister threatens their sense of identity. Perhaps that's why Jones seems incapable of stopping himself referring to the prime minister as “this woman.” Andrew Bolt prefers a more subtle power dynamic: he likes to call Gillard a “professional victim”.

If you think about what underlies the public distaste for Gillard, particularly among conservatives, it isn't policy. It's framed by character: Gillard as a “backstabber” who “knifed” Kevin Rudd; Gillard is “Juliar”; the "illegitimate leader".

As historian Judith Brett perceived last year, this stuff isn't really rational. It's a deeply emotional aversion, born out of male insecurity and threatened privilege. Cue the “Ditch the Witch” banner, in front of which Tony Abbott and Sophie Mirabella were only too happy to speak.

“Calling Gillard a witch points more crudely to the same archetype of an evil, manipulative female power that threatens to kill and emasculate men,” Brett wrote in The Monthly. “Faced with this sort of assault, deep from the unconscious of so many men, it has been very hard for the real Julia.”