I have been championing women as political leaders in this forum for years. Commentaries attesting to this include “Cracking the Political Glass Ceiling: First Woman Elected President in South America,” December 12, 2005, “Women Make Better Politicians than Men,” October 14, 2010, and “Men Should Be Barred from Politics,” September 25, 2013.
Here is an excerpt from the second of those commentaries:
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We have enough data, as well as anecdotal evidence, from the way women have influenced the corporate world to make credible extrapolations. The correlation between more women holding positions of power and the implementation of family-friendly policies is undeniable in this respect. Therefore, it’s entirely reasonable to assert that, if more women held positions of power in politics, they would use their power more towards building up human resources than military armaments — just to cite one obvious example.
Finland’s president, prime minister, president of the Supreme Court, as well as eight of its eleven government ministers are all women. Arguably, there’s a direct correlation between their positions and the fact that Newsweek rated this county the best place to live in 2010 — in terms of health, economic dynamism, education, political environment, and quality of life.
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More to the point, women are establishing a record to support my proposition that they are better politicians. Granted, men have set the bar so low, women do not have to do much to raise it. Still, my bias is such that I cannot resist hailing every confirming instance of my proposition, hence this:
Sanna Marin [at podium] is about to assume a role that remains unusual for young women around the world. …
Finland routinely ranks near the top worldwide in measures of gender equality, according to the World Economic Forum.
Marin will lead a coalition government made up of five parties, all of them led by women.
(Vox, December 9, 2019)
You go … girls!
Again, women have been ruling Finland for years and their record of success is beyond reproach. But I would be remiss not to note the heading for the Vox report quoted above:
Finland’s new parliament is dominated by women under 35 – The country could have lessons for the United States
Because it just so happens that — of the nearly 20 now running to unseat President Donald Trump — the most exciting candidate is the youngest, namely 37-year-old Pete Buttigieg. Of course, that Buttigieg is (openly) gay distinguishes him as much as his age does from the old men I want women to replace.
Having said all that, I would feel a lot better about the strides Finland has made towards gender equality if it were taking similar strides towards racial diversity. I mean, the whole friggin’ country is whiter than the state of Vermont, which is 96 percent white. It’s so white, the women who have led Finland for years don’t even bother to publish statistics on racial diversity.
Related commentaries:
Women better…
Pete Buttigeig…