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Related: About this forumJUSTIN TRUDEAU, Canadian Prime Minister: Raising His Daughter & Sons to Be FEMINISTS.
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau who took power last fall, introduced the world's first gender-based cabinet. His wife Sophie told him that as well as encouraging his daughter to be ambitious, he should "take as much effort to talk to his sons about how he treats women and how he is going to grow up to be a feminist like his Dad".
Trudeau, who has a daughter and two sons, added "We shouldn't be afraid of the word feminist. Men and women should use it to describe themselves any time they want."
merrily
(45,251 posts)Raising one's children, males and females, to believe in equal rights for women may have been big news at some point in Western history, but it should have been Standard Operating Procedure for parents, esp. liberal parents, in the U.S. and Canada since at least 1975. This is 2016.
If the headlines for using the word "feminist," still meh. Equality was all feminists wanted.
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)any major world leader, man or woman commit to that or publically discuss raising their sons as feminists in my lifetime. To comport yourself publically and personally in this manner is notable. Equality for women in all realms should have begun decades ago as you said, preferably earlier. In these times, Trudeau's actions can hopefully influence and strengthen women's equality. For a Liberal Party plutocrat he's making a good start. There's much worse.
"Justin Trudeau's 50-50 Cabinet: How Does Canada Compare to Other Countries?", Nov. 5, 2015, Internat'l Business Times, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/justin-trudeaus-50-50-cabinet-how-does-canada-compare-other-countries-1527409
>Canada's new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has named a younger and more diverse cabinet, with a ministerial team that is half men and half women for the first time in the country's history. The Liberal party leader swept to victory in a general election on 19 October, ending nearly a decade of Conservative rule.
>Most of the 30 ministers are under the age of 50, with 15 women and 15 men. Trudeau, who is the son of the late Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau, said the new cabinet looked like Canada, and when asked to explain his 50-50 top team, he said: "Because it's 2015."
- PM Justin Trudeau with New Cabinet After Being Sworn in at Rideau Hall, Ottawa, Canada -
Across the globe, only 22% of all national parliamentarians were female as of August 2015, which marks a slow increase from 11.3% ten years ago, according to UN Women. There are also wide variations in the average percentages of women parliamentarians in different regions.
>As of August 2015, Nordic countries came in at 41.1%, the Americas at 25.5%, sub-Saharan Africa at 23.0%, Asia at 18.4% and the Middle East at 17.1%.
United Kingdom: Of the 22-strong British cabinet, just seven are women. The picture is quite different in Scotland, as Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon unveiled a gender-equal cabinet last year.
United States: In the US, 26% of ministerial positions are held by women, putting the States 29th in the list according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union which lists appointments up to 1 January 2015.
Australia:The Australian cabinet has five women out of 21 members, following the leadership spill that saw millionaire lawyer Malcolm Turnbull replace Tony Abbott as prime minister.
>France: Half of the French cabinet are women, who hold nine out of 18 posts and also hold a total of 17 out of a total of 34 government posts. France passed a parity law in 2000, which required all French parties to field equal number of men and women to most elections.
>Finland: Finnish women became the first in the world to have unrestricted rights both to vote and to stand for parliament. Now, Finland ranks number one in terms of the percentage of women parliamentarians, with women holding 10 posts out of 16.
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia has no women in a cabinet-level position. The first woman to hold such a position, Norah al-Faiz, who was deputy education minister for girls, was sacked earlier this year by King Salman. Al-Faiz was an advocate of getting physical education on the curriculum for girls in Saudi public schools.
Pakistan: According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Pakistan has no women in ministerial positions.
Cape Verde: Women make up 52.9% of ministerial positions in Cape Verde, a nation on an archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa.
merrily
(45,251 posts)that cabinet is, especially most of the women. I am not sure how I react to that.
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)two Sikhs and another Asian or ME member. Take another look. Not the Kardashians! Britain has a young people's parliament which I think is a terrific idea. We should have one as well. France, Scotland and Finland have high female representation.
merrily
(45,251 posts)a young one.
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)Over and out.