AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - NOVEMBER 30: (L-R) Sanna Marin, Prime Minister of Finland and Prime Minster ... [+]
A question asked to New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, to justify why she was meeting with Finland’s leader, Sanna Marin sparked debate around the world on Wednesday. The reporter asked, “[is it] just because you're similar in age and, you know, got a lot of common stuff?”
Ardern, 42, responded with a rhetorical statement, wondering “whether or not anyone ever asked Barack Obama and [former New Zealand Prime Minister] John Key if they met because they were of similar age.” Marin, who is 37, addressed the question simply by saying, “we’re meeting because we are both prime ministers.”
The journalist’s question was denounced as sexist and was criticized for discussing the leaders’ ages. The question animated discussions regarding women in politics and how the two female heads of government are treated differently when compared to their male counterparts.
“If it were two young male prime ministers roughly the same age and similar in outlook, I don't think that somebody would ask, ‘how come the two of you are meeting?’” Jarmo Sareva, Finland’s Consul General in New York City, said in an interview.
This is not the first time Ardern or Marin were questioned about their ‘fitness’ as leaders. In 2018, Ardern gave birth to her daughter just eight months into her first term as prime minister, and the media heavily scrutinized the details about her pregnancy and maternity leave. Marin’s role as PM was debated after a video of her partying was leaked in August 2022.
Dr. Suze Wilson, a lecturer on leadership at Massey University in New Zealand, called the question “embarrassing” for people in the country. “It is just tapping into this kind of deeply-rooted beliefs,” she said. Dr. Wilson went on to highlight how this reflects “misogynistic beliefs about how women should and should not be allowed to behave and what they shouldn't be allowed to do with their lives.”
What’s been lost in the discussion is that Marin’s visit to New Zealand was historic – she is the first Finnish Prime Minister to ever visit the country. The premise of the question, which was that there is no reason for the meeting, shows misunderstanding of how diplomacy works, according to Sareva.
“It's part of normal engagement between heads of government, prime ministers,” Sareva said. “I think that based on the two countries being even this far-flung from one another, sharing many values and being small, open societies, very much committed to the rule of law globally.”
In her answer to reporters, Prime Minister Ardern pointed to the economic ties between New Zealand and Finland and the potential for strengthening this relationship. Sareva notes that while the two countries are far from each other, they’re ideologically similar.
“If one looks into a number of international rankings and comparisons, the two countries are usually very close to one another and quite often near the top,” he said. “One such ranking is the one by Transparency International on corruption or rather lack thereof. There are many others: It's press freedom, gender equality.”
Sareva also highlighted that Marin will represent Finland at the upcoming EU-ASEAN summit later on in December. “I think it […] must have been very useful for the Prime Minister to hear from [Prime Miniser Ardern], her New Zealand colleague […] whose country is much closer to the Indo-Pacific region.”
Dr. Wilson is also critical of the local coverage the question received in New Zealand. A lot of the coverage in New Zealand aggregated the controversy around the question and Marin’s controversial partying video – but Wilson said it missed some crucial context.
“I actually thought that the subsequent coverage in itself is just as problematic as the initial question,” she said in a phone interview. “The coverage itself actually served to not do what it said it was doing – of drawing attention to a clear […] double standard – but in fact, [framed] the whole story up in ways that just remind and reintroduce essentially misogynistic, sexist narratives that surround these women leaders.”
Ultimately, Sareva believes these types of controversial questions stem from the fact that people are not used to young women in high-profile leadership roles. There are currently around 26 women presidents or prime ministers worldwide, and according to UN Women, full gender equality at the top job would take 130 years to reach.
“It is still too new,” Sareva said. “It’s rare for there to be a relatively young, female prime minister but people should get used to it and we have gotten used to it.”
