Merkel
Add Germany to the list of nations that have had a female head of government before the US.
posted by Nathanael @ 12:50 PM
Monday, October 10, 2005
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2 Comments:
But taking a closer look at the women elected and in what countries I'm not necessarily convinced that means the US is behind the times. I once heard a southeast asia scholar talking about this phenomena there and she believed it was the sign of a more patriarchal society because the women are seen as "placeholders" or regents keeping the line until an appropriate male can take her place. She is also usually very conservative. I'll take twenty more male presidents before we have a Margaret Thatcher.
-Brdgt
I see your point. For Germany, this is a big step. The country has a huge body of professional women, but few at the highest level of politics, and there has never been a ruling queen/empress. Both Germany and US seem to appreciate the qualities of the women apart from their spouses, and little of the respect for the husband is transferable to the wife (although all WJC troubles appear to be reflected on HRC). As for Merkel's Thatcher-esqueness, I don't think that she'll get far considering the political power she gave up to become chancellor -- 2/3 of the ministries going to the SPD.
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