Lonely she might be in Tony Abbott's Cabinet but calling Julie Bishop a 'token woman' dismisses her considerable achievements, writes Annabel Crabb.

Julie Bishop does not need anyone to intervene on her behalf. Obviously, were she especially exercised about any of the public commentary on her attributes and abilities over the years, she could have ceased it immediately, and reduced its authors to piles of fine grey powder, with a targeted gazillion-electronvolt Death Stare.

So it is really just in the interests of all that is sane and non-ridiculous that I issue the plea: Can we please stop referring to her as a "token woman"?

Ita Buttrose, a superb Sheila who definitely qualifies among the career megafauna of Australian womanhood, empathised thus with Australia's first female foreign minister: "I'm sure Julie Bishop is accustomed to being the token woman throughout her career, and here she is being the token woman again."

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".

Well, I myself am a woman, and thus I am equipped with the sensitivity, diplomacy and ladylike instincts not to type, now, my first response to the above sentiment, which is (oh, bugger it): Poor Julie Bishop, my arse.

Julie Bishop is not a 'token woman'.

A 'token woman' is a woman who is included for appearances' sake in an otherwise male-dominated group or organisation despite manifestly lacking the experience and qualifications otherwise required to justify membership.

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.

She has been deputy to three Liberal leaders, and remained friendly with all of them.

She has wanted to be Australia's foreign minister for donkey's years, and now she is.

So it's not 'Poor Julie Bishop', really.

Lonely she might be in Tony Abbott's Cabinet, yes, but let's not insult her by dismissing her considerable achievements.

She is the first woman to serve as our foreign minister, and no-one could seriously argue she did not earn that.

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?

Here's the thing, equality-lovers: if you are of the firm view that women should be represented roughly equally in politics, then you've got to take the chunky with the smooth.

Equal representation means 'including the chicks you can't stand'. Otherwise it doesn’t mean a thing.

Annabel Crabb is the ABC's chief online political writer and host of Kitchen Cabinet on ABC1. View her full profile here.