SOPHIE GREGOIRE TRUDEAU, WIFE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, IS URGING WOMEN TO TAKE HOLD OF THEIR MEN’S HANDS ON WEDNESDAY
— INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY — AS A CELEBRATION OF EQUALITY. BUT NOT EVERYONE THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS A GREAT IDEA.
Canadian women should mark International Women’s Day on Wednesday by celebrating the men in their lives, says Sophie Gregoire Trudeau.
On the eve of the event, the wife of the prime minister used social media to urge the Canadian sisterhood to share snaps of themselves holding hands with their male partners.
The aim was to “celebrate the boys and men in our lives who encourage us to be who we truly are, who treat girls & women with respect, and who aren’t afraid to speak up in front of others,” she said.
In the accompanying picture on Instagram, she stares into the eyes of an intense-looking Justin Trudeau.
“Take a picture holding hands with your male ally & share it on social media using the hashtag #TomorrowInHand,” she continued. “Together, we can create a movement that inspires more men to join the fight to build a better tomorrow with equal rights & opportunities for everyone … because #EqualityMatters.”
The reaction to Gregoire Trudeau’s clarion call was swift, with critics deriding the move to celebrate men on the single day of the year set aside to honour women’s accomplishments.
“I’ve never had to have my hand held,” tweeted Conservative MP Michelle Rempel as she called on Canadian women to share pictures of themselves holding their degrees and other accomplishments to mark the day.
“Don’t we already celebrate men enough? Do we really need to make International WOMEN’S Day about the men in our lives?” Kristina Kurth Benoit commented on Gregoire Trudeau’s photo.
Some on Facebook welcomed “the turn around.” Darlene Kobley said, “It was just a comment to include, not divide, for heaven’s sake.”
The 41-year-old Gregoire Trudeau, who worked as a Quebec TV host before her marriage, has kept a low profile since her husband was elected prime minister in 2015. They were criticized for immediately putting their two nannies on the public payroll and six months later announced they would cover the cost of one caregiver for their three children.
Gregoire Trudeau serves as an ambassador for Plan Canada’s Because I Am a Girl, a campaign aimed at empowering youth to stand up for girls’ rights and gender equality.
This month she appears on the cover of Fashion Magazine’s feminist-themed issue, talking about her struggle with the eating disorder bulimia.
“My awareness of what I was suffering was major, but I just didn’t know how to get out of it. I kept thinking ‘Why me? I have everything. Why am I suffering from this?’ The stigma is less and less, because we talk about it more,” says Gregoire Trudeau.
The Liberal Party — with a prime minister, who has oft-described himself as a feminist, and whose cabinet is 50 per cent female — used International Women’s Day for its own ends. It sent out a fundraising email Tuesday calling on members to donate to the party so more women will participate in politics.
So far, the Trudeau government’s record on closing the gender divide is mixed. It has yet to move on a campaign pledge to act on sexual violence — a discarded mantle taken up by interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose; few Truth and Reconciliation recommendations have been implemented; the inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous women is largely stalled; and a national child care strategy is looking as likely as electoral reform.
Gregoire Trudeau responded late Tuesday, saying “now we are having a conversation,” and promising she’d have more to say at two events on Wednesday.
TAKE A PICTURE HOLDING HANDS WITH YOUR MALE ALLY.