Monday, December 08, 2008

What if... #8

What if all the world leaders were women?

This post is part of the 2008 advent series "What if..."

17 comments:

  1. If nothing else at least the decisions made would be more intuitive.

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  2. I think this is one of those win, win situations. First in all likelihood we would have better governance and second it would leave men able to pursue things that they enjoy most; like playing golf for instance:-)

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  3. More seriously I don’t know how it would turn out, for from only personal observation and experience I’ve found women in places of power or authority to be more intolerant and ruthless with members of their own gender then those of the opposite. I’ve never understood if this is resultant of being an overreaction as to showing they are fare minded or if they have even a greater gender relative territorial instinct then men. Again this is only a personal observation with no scientific basis to have it considered as being factual or in other words what I see from this side of the looking glass.

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  4. You mean having simultaneously:

    Indira Gandhi - India
    Margaret Thatcher - G.B.
    Angela Merkel - Germany
    Benazir Bhutto - Pakistan
    Golda Meir - Israel
    Chandrika Kumaratunga - Sri Lanka
    Megawati Sukarnoputri - Indonesia
    Sheikh Hasina - Bangladesh

    and a lot more I can't remember or don't know? A formidable set of leaders these. It might give a huge boost to equal rights for women everywhere.

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  5. I seriously doubt this would change much in the world. The competition for wealth and resources will be a greater power and influence over foreign policy than any westernized gender stereotypes/gender roles/gender expectations would. Heck, I'm even pessimistic about the notion that if women were in charge we wouldn't wage wars based off of sheer cultural/ideological differences.

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  6. As the others have said, women are often as combative and aggressive as men, so I can't imagine that wars and conflicts would disappear. But I think that children would be more valued than they are currently in many places (far less child slavery, etc). Possibly the population growth would be slower. Social injustices might be reduced too because women are generally more concerned about those things.

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  7. Madame Curie earned her chops as did Emily Noether and Maria Goeppert-Mayer. Amanda Peet and Lisa Randall don't demand special compensation because they squat when they pee. None of them whine about proving the power of personal narrative.

    Chancengleichheit, Gleichstellung, Gleichberechtigung! Think about that when your dentist - whose med school admission was greased by gonads, skin color, or inability to read and write - spins up the drill.

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  8. Arun, Don't forget Kim Campbell. She led Canada for a few months in '93 after the disastrous Mulroney years.

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  11. Sorry about the repeats.

    The Ouroboros

    Yes. But you say, the following are two men? These are in women too, I say, and in a such a leader, can you imagine? IN a man?

    There can be extremism in either case, yet, it is always dampened by it's opposite?:) You'd have to identify "these inclinations" as to whether the gender sees where the most peaked realization "is: then a resulting well balanced view in regards to each other. What is "airy" is brought down to earth.

    Then you would see an Aristotelean relation to Plato under an arche. :)

    Best,

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  12. It would probably be the most rigid dictatorship imaginable.

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  13. And Uncle Al might get those hugs he needs. ;-)

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  14. "Indira Gandhi - India
    Margaret Thatcher - G.B.
    Angela Merkel - Germany
    Benazir Bhutto - Pakistan
    Golda Meir - Israel
    Chandrika Kumaratunga - Sri Lanka
    Megawati Sukarnoputri - Indonesia
    Sheikh Hasina - Bangladesh"

    Add the current leaders of

    Cristina Fernandez - Argentina
    Michelle Batchelet - Chile

    Definitely would make the world a different place. Among the things that would be different, I'd tend to agree with Rae Ann's observations.

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  16. Arun has provided quite an impressive list yet how about some true heavy weights

    Isabella of Spain- Sponsor of Christopher Columbus and early user of the prenuptial agreement to assure shared and equal rule with Ferdinand.

    Eiizabeth I of England- First raising England as a naval power leading to being the greatest world power for centuries following.

    Catherine the Great of Russia- who virtually brought Russia single handedly out of the dark ages.

    And last but certainly not least

    Cleopatra of Egypt- who almost became the co-ruler of the Roman Empire

    Put women of this caliber together today and the men wouldn’t stand a chance:-)

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