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| Katerina Sakellaropoulou SOURCE: NBC |
Historically, Greece has been known to lag behind other European nations in terms of gender equality. In 2017, they ranked very low in a gender equality index performed by the European Institute for Gender Equality. Furthermore, the wage gap between men and women in 2017 was more than 12%, as reported by Eurostat. However, 55% of respondents saw Katerina Sakellaropoulou as a positive choice, as recently as this Tuesday, which was reported by a poll by MRB pollsters. As the president of Greece, she will hold a five-year term and succeeds President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
Questions:
1. What is the benefit of having more women in high government positions?
2. What is a possible reason that Greece could be lagging behind?
3. What could a female president mean for change in Greece?
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/22/europe/greece-president-katerina-sakellaropoulou-intl/index.html
I think it's beneficial to have more women in high government positions simply because it provides more perspectives and diversity. The government's job is to protect the rights of the people and represent them. In order to do this well though, they need a diverse staff because every country is diverse and if not all perspectives are included, than it's hard to create fair laws and make well informed decisions. According to a CNBC article written by Emma Newburger, there is only a 24.1 percent representation of women in politics. Only three out of 193 countries have a female majority in their government: Rwanda (61.4%), Cuba (53.2%), and Bolivia (53.1%). I think the only way to have an effective and fair government is to have both men and women play a large part in the government.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/04/the-us-ranks-75th-in-womens-representation-in-government.html
DeleteHaving a female president changed Greece's history of male presidents and brought a different, diverse view into Greek politics. It is beneficial to have more women in high government positions because today is a new age where all ideas from different genders, races, sexualities, and backgrounds are cherished. In order to protect all citizens' rights, there must be a diverse group of people involved to ensure everyone's protection in the government. Therefore, having the first woman president is just a step in the door to a diverse government for Greece to feel safe and heard.
ReplyDeleteHaving female people in high govt would change many things and could possibly change how women are veiwed too.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Elizabeth that having women in higher power could be really beneficial. Having women be represented in higher power could help a lot with the divide between men and women. It opens the views of the new age, and to show they have a diverse government system that supports and represents many people.
ReplyDeleteThe election of President Sakellaropoulou is going to a bring a great deal of change not only to Grecian society and politics, but also to the way the country is viewed. This pushes the Greek government ahead of several other countries not only in Europe. In the United States, which is largely considered an advanced country with a modern government, a woman has yet to take office as president. Additionally, other countries in Europe including Russia, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Italy, and Sweden have also never had a female leader. Having a woman in a position of power encourages diversity, which is vital to maintaining an effective government. It sends a message to the Greek people - to eliminate the divide between men and women. This representation could lead to the elimination of the wage gap and other laws/regulations that are oppressive towards women (abortion laws, etc). Overall, the election of President Sakellaropoulou is very progressive and a step in the right direction towards gender equality.
ReplyDeleteI think the election of Katerina Sakellaropoulou into presidential term will be widely beneficial for the women of Greece in that as a woman, it is likely that her goals will include decreasing the wage gap between men and women and increasing women's rights. It is also good for Greece as a country in that they were previously lagging behind in terms of gender equality but have now come past many countries in this aspect, including the United States of America, as the US has not had a female president as of yet. This can signify changes to Greece's political spectrum and also to Greece's place in the world. The state of Greece obviously thinks that President Sakellaropoulou will be a beneficial leader because parliament's votes were highly tipped in her favor. I believe this signifies change in the world towards more gender equality.
ReplyDeleteSince Greece does not have much history in gender equality, electing a female president will greatly benefit the women of Greece. Women will see a fellow women who has accomplished what no other women has, that in itself can have huge impacts in how women will be treated. She was a heavily favored vote, which could signify Greece come to a more gender equality nation.
ReplyDeleteI think that the election of President Sakellaropoulou would not only impact Greece as a country, but also many others as well. For example, there's been more than 58 elections and the US still have not had a female president. There is a chance that maybe female candidates were not as strong as the winner, but there still has to be some gender inequality involved. Ever since Victoria Woodhull became the first female candidate, there has never been another until 2016, when Hillary Clinton became the first one to be nominated by a major party. This proves that gender is definitely a factor of the presidential election, which is not fair. We should refrain from any form of discrimination, which includes gender.
ReplyDeleteReplying to question 1, having more women in govt. helps to influence others to realize that women can do a lot more than many people merit them to be able to do. We've seen how throughout history, many cultures as well as ancient civilizations separated male and females roles, where the man gets to make all the decisions and work, earn money, etc., while the woman just stays home and takes care of issues at home. When women tried to achieve more important roles, such as being able to work, they were paid less, which we can still see exist today. Having more women in govt. not only proves those beliefs wrong, but can also help influence many laws, etc. that could make countries more equal in terms of gender.
ReplyDelete(Alexander Guess)
ReplyDeleteGreece's election of a female president is HUGE in the domain of civil rights and gender equality. Hopefully, she will pass bills or invest more of Greece's economy in aforementioned civil rights. With a female government official in charge, Greece can begin to establish gender equality for its citizens.
There were a lot of studies done on the benefits of having more women in high government positions, and some of the findings are rather amazing. The presence of more women promotes more population health and well-being because they are more push for more spending on health and education, which results in a decline in the mortality rate. In addition, research has shown that women tend to be more democratic, collaborative, and bipartisan, while encouraging citizen’s confidence in the government. In general, Greece in particular has had issues with gender discrimination, being the last on the gender eqaulity EU list and clinging to very traditional gender roles; however, with Katerina Sakellaropou being recently elected as the first female president, things may start to change for the better. Being a human rights activist and a woman, she is more likely to advocate for female rights and encourage women to be more active in the workplace, as well as push harder for civil rights.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason greece has been lagging behind in social equality is most likely because of economic issues it had a while back. Thats just my thought though.
ReplyDeleteBecause Greece has been known to lag behind other countries in gender equality, having a female president could change the face of their future by inspiring other young women to follow her footsteps and one day gain a position in office.
ReplyDeleteAs Grace said, a female president could definitely inspire young girls to run for public office in the future. It's a big step for gender equality, and a generally good sign for Greece. Having a female president could also cause more of a focus on a wide variety of gender equality and women's issues.
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