Women in power

A frisson of excitement is running through Europe over the presidential elections in France this spring. For the first time in their history, the French are seriously weighing the option of putting a woman in the Palais de l’Elysees, the stately home of their presidents since 1874. If the Socialist Party’s nominee, Segolene Royal, wins (despite the storm over her recent gaffes on foreign policy, she is running neck-and-neck with her Conservative rival, Nicolas Sarkozy), she will join Angela Merkel of Germany in heading what are arguably two of Europe’s most macho nations.

The prospect of shattering another glass ceiling is heady. But Royal is worth tracking for more reasons than the mere satisfaction of seeing a woman reach the top. This attractive 53-year-old live-in partner of Socialist Party chief Francois Hollande represents a new breed of international female politicians who have moved away decisively from the testosterone-pumping image their predecessors cultivated to get ahead of their male rivals.

For ever so long, women in politics have felt compelled to deny their femininity in an effort to be taken seriously. They presented themselves as stronger than the strong and tougher than the tough as they strove to rise in a field traditionally regarded as a male preserve. It was not for nothing that Israel’s Golda Meir was famously described as ``the only man in her cabinet’’ while the UK’s Margaret Thatcher was dubbed admiringly as the ``Iron Lady’’. At home, we had our own ferrous woman in Indira Gandhi,  who was worshipped as Durga, the embodiment of female power.

There seemed to be little scope of breaking out of this mould.  The New York Times quotes the advice given in 1988 by Emily’s List, the US-based Democratic women’s group, to female aspirants for high executive posts.  Women must ``fight throughout their campaigns to establish their qualifications, power, toughness and capacity to win.”

The prescription no longer applies. Merkel, Royal and another trailblazer from across the Atlantic, Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, who stormed through conservative Catholic barriers to become Latin America’s first elected woman president, have removed the shackles that forced women to squeeze their femininity into severe suits before making a serious political pitch.

Royal, in particular, defies the conventional image of a woman politician. She wears high heels and soft, feminine dresses. She’s chic and glamorous. An unmarried mother of four, she offers no apologies for her longstanding live-in relationship with Hollande. She’s never tried to separate her professional image from her private life and has often allowed herself to be photographed in typical maternal roles like playing with her babies and eating breakfast with her children. Bachelet’s emergence in Chile is no less path-breaking. This traditional Catholic country voted for her despite the fact that she is a separated mother who bore her third child out of wedlock with her partner and has never hidden the fact.

There’s sheer liberation in the thought that the 21st century woman politician is no longer bound by strict patriarchal social mores. But the importance of Royal, Merkel and Bachelet goes beyond emancipation. They also represent a new brand of politics that somehow seems to appeal to both men and women today. If the 20th century was about macho leaders who deepened the  ideological divide, the 21st century seems to be the era of consensual politics. The gradual decline of ideology and the rise of sectional interests have created space for leaders who can bring conflicting groups together. Women, with their superior verbal and managerial skills, seem to be filling that space.

Neither Bachelet nor Merkel took strong positions on key issues in their election campaigns, and were often criticised for it.  Royal has been quoted as saying, ``I don’t know everything, but I do know where the problem lies. In the current phase, listening is very important.’’

In India, too, we seem to have moved away from the tough leadership represented by Indira Gandhi. Sonia Gandhi has subtly altered her style, from trying to emulate her mother-in-law to relying on her intrinsic traits. Like Royal, she prefers to listen first and then formulate a position.

On the other side of the world, we’re seeing Hilary Clinton make a conscious effort to recast and soften her image to suit the changing times. Women’s lib has come a long way since its bra-burning days. At last, women in politics can be women.