When a triumvirate of female leaders
comes to power across the world, it inspires young women everywhere
So, it’s done and dusted. Theresa May is
now the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. And if Donald Trump keeps up
his gaffe-a-day performance, Hillary Clinton is a dead cert for the White
House. If you take in the fact that Germany already has a female Chancellor in
Angela Merkel, this will be the first time in history that we see a triumvirate
of powerful women ruling the world (well, vast swathes of it, at any rate) at
the same time.
At the risk of sounding sexist, I have to
confess that I find this a rather thrilling prospect. A female US President, a
female UK Prime Minister and a female German Chancellor. What are the odds of
this ever happening again – at least in my lifetime? So, even though I can see
some of you (mostly those with that extra Y chromosome) shaking your heads and
tut-tutting at my naivete, I refuse to curb my enthusiasm.
Whenever I express these views – both in
real life and in social media – there are a few stock responses that are
invariably thrown at me. How does it matter if these leaders are women? Surely,
leaders should be chosen for their abilities and not their gender? And why do I
assume that having women in positions of power will be good for other women?
Well, first of all, none of these women
is in pole position because of her gender. All of them have proven track
records in politics and have come through the same hurly-burly (or rugby scrum,
to use a more recent analogy) that their male colleagues have failed to
negotiate successfully. So, they are not women politicians. They are
politicians who happen to be women. Or even women who happen to be politicians.
And yes, leaders should be chosen for
their abilities and not their gender. But I am sure that even their most
committed rivals would grant that Clinton, May and Merkel have more than proved
their political chops during their careers. So, when it comes to ability and
talent, they are easily the equals of their male counterparts (though, frankly,
it is farcical to compare Hillary Clinton to the abomination that is Donald
Trump).
So then, we come to that old chestnut:
are women leaders any good for other women? Do they stand by the sisterhood? Is
the feminist cause better served by having a female in a position of power?
Well, by way of answer, all I have for
you are two words: Barack Obama.
As Obama nears the end of his two terms
as America’s first African-American President (well, okay, mixed race, if you
want to get all pedantic about it), race relations in the USA are at an
all-time low. Just over the last week, we had two young Black men – Alton
Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota – shot and killed by
police in circumstances that would have earned most White folk a ticket or a
caution at the most. And they were just the latest in a long roll call of Black
men who have died at the hands of the police. Michael Brown, an unarmed
teenager, was killed by a police officer in Ferguson. Trayvon Martin, another
unarmed teenager, was killed by a neighbourhood watch volunteer in Florida. Eric
Garner, who was put in a chokehold by NYPD officers, was heard saying ‘I can’t
breathe’ over and over again before he died. His dying words became a rallying
cry for those protesting police violence against Blacks.
According to the Guardian, which runs a
project to track police killings in America, at least 136 people have been
killed by the police in 2016 alone. And the Washington Post estimates that 258
Black people have died at the hands of the police in 2015. Not surprisingly
then, last week saw countrywide demonstrations in the USA against police
brutality against Blacks (#BlackLivesMatter). And in Dallas, the police force
itself became the target of an African-American sniper, who shot on a protest rally
and killed five cops and injured many others.
All this, while the first Black President
of America was still in the White House.
So, if the presence of an
African-American at the helm of affairs can’t make things better for Black
people, why should we imagine that the presence of a female leader will make
things better for women?
The simple answer is that it is not so
simple at all. Electing a Black President or a female Prime Minister does not
mean that the problems of those sections of the community will magically disappear.
No, that magic wand does not exist, so nobody – whatever their sex, colour,
ethnicity – can wield it to make our problems vanish.
Let’s take an example closer home. The
BSP leader, Mayawati, who styles herself as ‘Dalit ki beti’ has been the chief
minister of UP four times over. But Dalit women continue to be raped and Dalit
men killed if they overstep the bounds set out for them.
But that doesn’t negate the symbolic
value of having a Dalit woman at the helm of affairs. By her sheer presence,
she serves as a beacon of hope sending out glimmers of possibility to every
Dalit girl studying in a remote primary school that one day she too can attain
those heights.
And it is that message that will hit home
for young girls everywhere when women do – quite literally – take over the world.
And I for one can’t wait to see that happen.
