Anything men can do, we can do better. Like running the world
Last week I listened to an episode of the Woman’s Hour podcast on BBC Sounds, which posed the question: “Are female leaders managing the Covid-19 crisis better than the men?”
I was interested to hear more about whether politicians, including New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, Germany’s Angela Merkel and our own Nicola Sturgeon, really have handled the pandemic differently to their male counterparts – especially after I saw new statistics that seemed to back up the theory.
Findings from the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the World Economic Forum, also released last week, showed countries led by women had “systematically and significantly better” coronavirus outcomes thanks to their more proactive and coordinated policy responses.
Initially, I thought it must be a no-brainer. After all, the rapid response of Ms Ardern, for example, has meant Kiwis were one of the first in the world to come out of lockdown, and the country has so far only suffered 22 deaths from the virus – compared to America’s estimated 173,000.
One aspect that may have had an impact is the fact that women, generally, tendtobethe more caring and nurturing gender,and so perhaps a desire to protect the population has led to lower death tolls in countries run by female politicians. The data certainly seems to think so, with the researchers pointing out that women were quicker to implement lockdown rules, despite potential for longer-term economic implications. However, I think one more relevant factor here is that women have had to grow up in a world that is not made for them. Historically, we have not had our voice heard, held power or wielded influence – after all, as James Brown famously sang, this is a man’s world.
As a result, women are naturally more open to seeking advice from others, adapting, learning quickly, and listening – something which seems to have resulted in our female leaders putting their faith in the scientists who have the expertise to lead us out of this pandemic.
In contrast, Donald Trump suggested drinking bleach. I’ll just let that sink in…
Although female-led countries have fared better, I think it’s