Calling New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern ‘attractive’ is not sexist: Duck
JUST as turning Obama, Turnbull and Trudeau into political pin-up boys isn’t a reflection on their capabilities saying New Zealand’s PM Jacinda Ardern is “attractive” isn’t sexist, writes Siobhan Duck.
Opinion
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GWYNETH Paltrow once gushed to Barack Obama that he was “so handsome” she “couldn’t speak properly” as she introduced him at a political fundraiser.
Oprah Winfrey and Obama’s wife, Michelle, spent a good portion of an interview analysing the then President’s so-called swagger, with plenty of approving “mmm, mmm, mmms” thrown in for good measure.
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Our very own Malcolm Turnbull has been described as a “silver fox” and I have lost count of the number of female journalists who have declared Canada’s Justin Trudeau “hot”.
In not one instance has anyone sprung to the defence of these swoon-worthy world leaders to say they were being objectified. Or that the commentary about their appearances had somehow detracted from the work they did on the world stage.
It was a different story altogether this week when Charles Wooley interviewed Kiwi PM Jacinda Ardern.
The veteran 60 Minutes reporter found himself accused of being “creepy”, “patronising” and “repugnant” for daring to describe Ms Ardern as “attractive”.
Am I missing something?
Ms Ardern is indeed attractive. Acknowledging that fact doesn’t mean Wooley doesn’t respect her intelligence or her political achievements. Just as turning Obama, Turnbull and Trudeau into glorified political pin-up boys isn’t a reflection on their capabilities.
It’s sad that we have now reached a point where even innocuous commentary about a woman’s looks is quickly condemned as sexist.
I doubt that a savvy politician like Ms Ardern needs shielding from the horror of being called attractive by a 70-year-old journalist. She will have heard and seen far worse than that. She may have even enjoyed the compliment.
Let’s not forget Ms Ardern had to deal with countless Kiwi commentators arguing she couldn’t have a baby and do her job. Now that’s offensive!
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With that in mind, it’s easy to see why she was mystified by the anger directed at Wooley’s words.
It wasn’t even that Wooley asked Ms Ardern when her child was conceived (admittedly a tad personal), many bizarrely took exception to him raising the pregnancy at all because it’s apparently “unremarkable” for a woman to have a baby and a career these days.
Only Ms Ardern isn’t an ordinary working mum. She is, in fact, only the second woman in history to have a baby as a PM. That makes her pregnancy interesting fodder.
Some might jump up and down claiming everyone wants to hear Ms Ardern’s politics discussed rather than her personal life, but that’s simply not true.
If the mass audiences wanted to “enjoy” people jawing on about politics, Canberra’s Question Time would top the weekly ratings rather than the tawdry antics of Married at First Sight.
I suspect most of us find New Zealand’s First Baby a more attractive subject than deep dissertations on differing stances on trade deals.
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