Women Prime Ministers in Australia and Iceland Make News
Women Prime Ministers in Australia and Iceland Make News
Australia swore in its first female Prime Minister last month, when Julia Gillard took over for the current unpopular Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. Via Feminist Daily News:
When it comes to the White House, we still seem to have an expectation that our leaders should be male, straight, and completely without any sort of "scandal." It's difficult to even imagine the media frenzy that a presidential candidate in a serious, monogamous unmarried relationship, either same or opposite sex would cause in this country.
Julia Gillard became Australia's first woman prime minister yesterday, after former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd abruptly stepped down from his position. Gillard, who has been the deputy prime minister for nearly three years, was unanimously selected by the Labor Party.
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Upon being elected, Gillard said, "My values and beliefs have driven me to step forward to take this position as prime minister. I will lead a strong and responsible government that will take control of our future," according to the New York Times. While in office, Gillard plans to continue stimulus policies and intends to keep Australian troops in Afghanistan, reported the Associated Press.
According to the Associated Press, Gillard has said that she looks up to women who are able to balance having a job and a family. When asked if she sees significance in being Australia's first female prime minister, she responded by saying: "First woman, maybe first redhead - I'll allow you to contemplate which was more unlikely in the modern age." According to CNN, having a female prime minister is seen as long overdue in Australia.
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Upon being elected, Gillard said, "My values and beliefs have driven me to step forward to take this position as prime minister. I will lead a strong and responsible government that will take control of our future," according to the New York Times. While in office, Gillard plans to continue stimulus policies and intends to keep Australian troops in Afghanistan, reported the Associated Press.
According to the Associated Press, Gillard has said that she looks up to women who are able to balance having a job and a family. When asked if she sees significance in being Australia's first female prime minister, she responded by saying: "First woman, maybe first redhead - I'll allow you to contemplate which was more unlikely in the modern age." According to CNN, having a female prime minister is seen as long overdue in Australia.
But of course, the switch over wasn't entirely without controversy. According to Feministing, it appears that she is living in sin, and some people think bringing her partner into the "Lodge" (the Australian version of the White House) is somehow setting a bad example for women to not get married.
A poll like the one being held by the Sydney Morning Herald, which asks: "Do you agree that Julia Gillard's lifestyle is a bad influence for women?"
Emphasis mine. Even though de facto marriages usually involve a man and a woman (and sometimes two men, or two women, according to the 2006 Australian census) the Sydney Morning Herald, bless its pearl-clutching heart, is just concerned about the womenfolk.
And they're right, of course. Gillard is the most powerful woman in Australia, having worked long and hard to get there, and having found long-term love along the way. She's young, successful and in a stable relationship with her partner. Clearly, this sets a terribleexample for the women of Australia. Who does this woman think she is? Hardworking, good at her job and in love with a supportive non-husband partner?
Australia may have the first co-habitating woman leader, but Iceland has gone one step further. Their female Prime Minister just got married, and to another woman.
Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir has married her long-term partner, her office said on Monday, making her the world's first national leader with a same-sex spouse.
Sigurdardottir, 67, married writer Jonina Leosdottir on Sunday, the day a new law took effect defining marriage as a union between two consenting adults regardless of sex.
The two had had a civil union for years and changed this into a marriage under the new law, which was approved by parliament earlier this month.
It's difficult to imagine anything like this happening in the U.S., it seems like. Although there have been a few single men in the Presidency who married while still in the White House, this was long before co-habitation would have been likely. When it comes to the White House, we still seem to have an expectation that our leaders should be male, straight, and completely without any sort of "scandal." It's difficult to even imagine the media frenzy that a presidential candidate in a serious, monogamous unmarried relationship, either same or opposite sex would cause in this country.
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