{"id":63753,"date":"2024-06-01T13:11:15","date_gmt":"2024-06-01T13:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/01\/why-mexico-may-elect-a-female-president-before-the-united-states\/"},"modified":"2024-06-01T13:11:15","modified_gmt":"2024-06-01T13:11:15","slug":"why-mexico-may-elect-a-female-president-before-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/01\/why-mexico-may-elect-a-female-president-before-the-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Mexico May Elect a Female President Before the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/30\/world\/00mexico-women-photos\/00mexico-women-photos-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Why Mexico May Elect a Female President Before the United States\" title=\"Why Mexico May Elect a Female President Before the United States\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mexico is poised to elect its first female president on Sunday, a historic leap in a country long known for its machismo \u2014 and a big moment for all of North America.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">From the beginning of the presidential race, the only competitive candidates have been two women: the front-runner Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist from the ruling Morena party, and X\u00f3chitl G\u00e1lvez, an entrepreneur representing a coalition of opposition parties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The milestone is a reflection of the country\u2019s complex relationship to women, who face rampant violence and rank sexism, yet are also revered as matriarchs and trusted in positions of authority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">How the country got here before the United States, its biggest trading partner, has much to do with policies that forced open doors for women at every level of government, experts say.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Pushed by feminist activists, Mexico, over the past few decades, has adopted increasingly broad laws encouraging more representation of women in politics. Then, in 2019, it took the remarkable step of making gender parity in all three branches of government a constitutional requirement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMexico, on this metric, is really a model for how other countries can do it,\u201d<strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\"> <\/strong>said Jennifer Piscopo, a professor of gender and politics at Royal Holloway, a college of the University of London, who studies the region, adding, \u201cThere\u2019s no other country that I\u2019m currently aware of that has a constitutional amendment for gender parity that is that comprehensive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Today, half of the country\u2019s legislature is made up of women, compared with less than 30 percent of the U.S. Congress. The chief justice of the Mexican Supreme Court, the leaders of both houses of Congress and the Central Bank governor are all women. So are the ministers of the interior, education, economy, public security and foreign relations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, a woman is set to become the most powerful person in the country, the commander of the armed forces, the chief executive of the second largest economy in Latin America.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Alma Lilia Tapia, spokeswoman for a group of families searching for their missing loved ones in Guanajuato state, said she believed that both female contenders would pay more attention to the pleas of the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/11\/11\/world\/americas\/mexico-missing-children-maria-herrera-magdaleno.html\" title=\"\">families of Mexico\u2019s nearly 100,000 disappeared<\/a>, compared with their male predecessors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The New York Times interviewed 33 Mexican women in the lead-up to the election who said they knew this alone would not wipe away the many indignities they face. This is still a country where <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/12\/13\/world\/americas\/miriam-rodriguez-san-fernando.html\" title=\"\">women are killed at extraordinary rates<\/a>, where they earn far less than men on average and where machismo remains culturally ingrained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But for many voters, and the candidates themselves, the arrival of a woman to the nation\u2019s highest office does carry symbolic weight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThat Mexico would have a woman president is, to me, extraordinary,\u201d said Ms. G\u00e1lvez in a radio interview. \u201cWe have taken a very important step in the struggle of women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Sheinbaum has acknowledged what this could mean for the next generation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhen a little girl tells you: \u2018I also want to be head of government,\u2019 the truth is that it brings on enormous emotion,\u201d Ms. Sheinbaum told one interviewer, \u201cnot only because of what that recognition means, but also to see that a girl is thinking beyond stereotypes that have been imposed on us as women.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While many Latin American countries pursued quotas for female politicians, Mexico was particularly aggressive in instituting them, first for local and then national government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">By 2019, the country passed a constitutional amendment requiring an even gender split in all three branches of government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The election of a female president \u201ccould not have happened if it had not been for parity,\u201d<strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\"> <\/strong>said M\u00f3nica Tapia, who leads a group that trains women for political leadership in Mexico.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The United States has never entertained gender quotas in politics, which are common in much of the world, Ms. Piscopo said. And unlike Mexico, which elects its leaders by popular vote, the U.S. operates on the electoral college system. (Hillary Clinton would have won the 2016 U.S. election if it were based solely on the popular vote.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The mass entry of women into Mexican politics in the past few years has come alongside seismic demographic and cultural shifts that have transformed the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A half-century ago, Mexican families had an average of seven children each and about one in 10 Mexican women <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wider.unu.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/Publications\/Working-paper\/PDF\/wp2021-16-women-labour-force-participation-Mexico.pdf\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">had a job<\/a>. Today, Mexicans have fewer children than Americans and nearly half of women in the country are in the work force.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Until 2021, abortion was banned in all but two states. Now <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/09\/06\/world\/americas\/mexico-abortion-decriminalize-supreme-court.html\" title=\"\">it is legal in most of the country.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Both candidates have promoted progressive social policies, such as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Xochitl.Galvez.R\/videos\/como-senadora-vot%C3%A9-a-favor-de-prohibir-las-mal-llamadas-terapias-de-conversi%C3%B3n-p\/714479217562075\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">opposing<\/a> gay conversion therapy or <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Claudiashein\/status\/1734702312570958175\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">creating<\/a> clinics for transgender and nonbinary people, that have left some conservative women feeling overlooked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe are in favor of women\u2019s rights, but these women\u2019s rights don\u2019t include abortion,\u201d or \u201ctrans activism,\u201d said \u00c1ngeles Bravo, the representative of the National Front for the Family, a conservative coalition that has opposed abortion and L.G.B.T. rights, in the state of Mexico. \u201cAnd there are a lot of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some young feminists doubt that either candidate would prioritize addressing key issues that matter to women, like domestic violence and Mexico\u2019s gender pay gap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They say both women seem to just represent the interests of men \u2014 in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/30\/world\/americas\/mexico-election-claudia-sheinbaum.html\" title=\"\">Ms. Sheinbaum\u2019s case, those of her mentor<\/a>, the current president, Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador, and in Ms. G\u00e1lvez\u2019s, the male leaders of the three main parties she represents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s of no use to us that a woman is going to be the president if she continues to be under the shadow of patriarchy,\u201d said Wendy Galarza, 33, a feminist activist from Quintana Roo state who in 2020 was beaten and shot by police officers during a demonstration in Canc\u00fan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yet, while it\u2019s not clear exactly how much change will come, there could be something transformational about a woman occupying a position of maximum authority in a country where presidents enjoy broad power and, often, wide respect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMen will always be in the background, but the leadership of a woman president in power is fundamental,\u201d Ms. Tapia said. It tells Mexican women, she said, \u201cthat your family can\u2019t tell you where a woman\u2019s place is \u2014 whether it\u2019s in the kitchen or with the family \u2014 it\u2019s wherever you choose.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/01\/world\/americas\/mexico-presidential-election-women.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mexico is poised to elect its first female president on Sunday, a historic leap in a country long known for its machismo \u2014 and a big moment for all of North America. From the beginning of the presidential race, the only competitive candidates have been two women: the front-runner Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/30\/world\/00mexico-women-photos\/00mexico-women-photos-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4792,2994,1296,2627,309,308],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63753"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63753"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63755,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63753\/revisions\/63755"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}