Women, take charge!

Corona has come to tell us many things. One of them is that it’s time more men stepped back from political leadership en-masse, took over home-making and child care (leadership roles in the home front) and let more women take on political leadership. I neither see this as a feminist statement, nor am I saying that women are better leaders than men. What I’m saying is this. We need well-integrated human beings to lead the world today. And at this time in history, more women have undoubtedly learnt to own their femininity and integrate their masculinity, than men who have learnt to own their masculinity and integrate their femininity. Look at these powerful young women political leaders who are changing the game with their power, grace, compassion, intelligence and diligence!

45-year old Katie Porter grew up in a small farming community in Iowa. She went to Yale where she majored in American studies, and did her undergraduate thesis on The Effects of Corporate Farming on Rural Community. Now as a congresswoman from the democratic party in the Orange County, she knows her stuff and is tough with corporate heads (Wells Fargo, Facebook), Food Stamping Admin, often rendering them speechless or consenting to cooperate with her reasonable, people-friendly demands.

31-year old spanish-speaking Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is the youngest woman ever to serve in the US Congress. As a bartender and waitress before she took office, she was struggling to pay back her student loan. A personal situation where she saw from up-close how attorneys ripped families who were clueless about bureaucracy, and interning with a US senator were her training grounds. She is a big champion of the Green New Deal and a sprightly youth who loves dancing and connects to the aspirations and struggles of millennials.

40-year old New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has served in the Labour Party from the age of 17, and eventually got elected as PM in 2018. The world is paying attention to Jacinda’s well-being budget, critique of capitalism and economic growth, and her close association with the Green Party and the indigenous Maori people. The most fascinating part was her announcement of her pregnancy, going on maternity leave, being the second female world leader (after Benazir Bhutto) to birth a baby while in office. It’s a joy to watch her beautifully embrace motherhood, bringing her baby to the UN General Assembly, with her spouse Gayford being a full-time, wholehearted caretaker. And I have much to say on this last point.

I see all around me, powerful women with such leadership potential, stuck at home in their kitchens. Now, this is not a judgment about home-making, kitchen or care work. They are highly responsible, special, honourable, irreplaceable roles. I love every bit of it myself. But only as long as it’s a choice. And civilisationally speaking, at this time of chaos and crisis which I know more women leaders can better respond to, what are we doing still only “supporting women” to work overtime in social roles, after they have cooked, cleaned and put their children to sleep? We should no longer be merely supporting women or asking for women representation. Women leaders need to be groomed and pleaded to lead.

Here is a brilliant talk by Alexis Kanda who is doing exactly this. As a woman, I deeply resonated with our conditioning that we were not made to be social / political leaders. It is hard-wired, and probably for a reason. In earlier times in history, women’s role was limited to the home, grooming and educating their children, of course exceptionally taking on social roles. Genders were probably wired that way back then to serve that context. But today’s times when patriarchy has wreaked havoc leading us all to such a mess, we need to urgently rewire ourselves as a society. It may not be easy for both men and women to wake up to this urgent need. In spite of decades of having engaged with that voice within myself and enormous support all around me, I still slip into that disempowering narrative. But it needs to be done.

When all the male Gods tried and failed at subduing Mahishasura, they finally turned to Durga, the invincible Goddess, who after a 10-day long battle, subdued the demon. This is clearly the time for Durga to take charge.

Related post: Letting the feminine lead the way