Women on Top

Margaret Thatcher............................Angela Merkel

........................................versus.........................................


Gloria Arroyo...........................Benazir Bhutto

It has now been confirmed that Germany has elected its first ever female Head of State. Angela (pronounced with a hard 'g') Merkel is the first ever Kanzlerin (note the female suffix on Chancellor, aka. Kanzler) in German history. I find the rise of women to power as very interesting, especially in my lifetime. There seems to be a pretty clear pattern here, so far, anyway. Western female leaders tend to be unattractive and extremely conservative (see Margaret Thatcher, for instance) -- Merkel certainly being no exception to this. Eastern female leaders tend to be attractive, or at least not unattractive, from powerful political families and, at least in the beginning, before they are hauled off or killed in negligible political and financial scandals, more willing to be a progressive voice for positive change in their societies (see Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Gloria Arroyo, etc.).

Does this mean that in order to achieve success in the Western world, a woman must be unattractive and mean? This is not a good sign. Even Hilary Clinton (who by all accounts fits the unattractive mold) is becoming publicly meaner and more conservative -- is she headed for powerful glory, then? Let's wait and see how this theory pans out. In the meantime, does this mean Madonna is on her way to worldwide political dominance? She is getting ever more unattractive and conservative by the day. It's a worrying pattern, indeed.