A Quick Dose of Perspective....

This is not meant to dampen any celebrations currently underway, it's purpose is to inform.

There are 17 countries in the world ruled by women. Of these, only twelve were democratically elected.

TIME Magazine compiled a list of ten out of that twelve and included our Prime Minister among them and I think she deserves congratulations for making the list.

Here is the list of Countries currently ruled by women:

1 Ireland President Mary McAleese Nov. 11, 1997 - elected

2 Finland (1st) President Tarja Halonen Mar. 1, 2000 - elected

3 Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel Nov. 22, 2005 - elected

4 Liberia President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Jan. 16, 2006 - elected

5 India President Pratibha Patil Jul. 25, 2007 - elected

6 Argentina President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Dec. 10, 2007 - elected

7 Bangledesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed Jan. 6, 2009 - elected

8 Iceland Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir Feb. 1, 2009 - appointed 2009, elected 2009

9 Croatia Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor Jul. 6, 2009 - appointed

10 Lithuania President Dalia Grybauskaite Jul. 12, 2009 - elected

11 Switzerland President Doris Leuthard Jan. 1, 2010 - appointed

12 Kyrgyzstan President Rosa Otunbayeva Apr. 7, 2010 - coup

13 Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla May 8, 2010 - elected

14 Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar May 26, 2010 - elected

15 Finland (2nd) Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi Jun. 22, 2010 - appointed

16 Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard Jun. 24, 2010 - appointed

17 Slovakia Prime Minister Iveta Radicová Jul. 8, 2010 - elected

"Elected" refers to women leaders who were elected in democratic elections.

"Succeeded" refers to leaders who automatically assumed their position following the resignation or impeachment of a predecessor, and were thus not specifically elected to their post.

"Appointed" refers to leaders who were appointed to office by a ruling party or executive, and were thus not specifically elected to their post.

"Coup" refers to a leader who staged a coup or revolution to take office through force.

And here is TIME Magazine's' top ten' list:

TIME Magazine's Top 10 Women Leaders:

• Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia
• Johanna Sigurdardottir, Prime Minister of Iceland
• Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of Argentina
• Dalia Grybauskaite, President of Lithuania
• Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
• Sheik Hasina Wajed, Prime Minister of Bangladesh
• Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia
• Tarja Halonen, President of Finland
• Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
• Laura Chinchilla, President of Costa Rica 

 

I do not think it is an ascending or descending order, neither does it appear alphabetical so I cannot comment on why she was named at number nine.

Some important questions:

Why make a list? So people in the third world can buy TIME Magazine

What was the criteria? They didn't say

Should we feel proud? That she made the list, sure

Who didn't make the list? Who cares

Why didn't she come in at number one? They forgot to count the GOPIO vote

Was there a swimsuit category? One could only hope

Who one Miss Congeniality? German Chancellor

Are these questions silly? Yes

Is it demeaning to treat Female World Leaders as beauty queen contestants? I would tend to think so

Will their be a male version? One can only hope and pray that there wont

Is this the last question? Yes