Prime Ministers Jacinda Ardern and Sanna Marin slam sexist journalist during recent conference

By Charlie Sawyer

Published Dec 1, 2022 at 11:53 AM

Reading time: 2 minutes

In what appears to be a disappointing and never-ending cycle, female world leaders are still having to shut down misogynistic and sexist questions during public appearances. The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, and the Prime Minister of Finland, Sana Marin, recently joined forces for a press conference—as political leaders often do. What happened next is a situation we see occur far too often when it comes to women.

During questioning from a number of news outlets, a journalist casually stated: “A lot of people will be wondering, are you two meeting just because you’re similar in age and got a lot of common stuff there?” Almost instinctively, Ardern interrupted him mid sentence and pondered: “I wonder whether or not anyone ever asked Barack Obama and John Key if they met because they were of similar age.”

@nbcnews

#NewZealand PM #JacindaArdern and #Finland PM #SannaMarin respond to a reporter's question about whether they met because they are "similar in age."

♬ original sound - nbcnews

According to the BBC, the male journalist was from New Zealand radio network Newstalk ZB. Ardern continued, stating: “We, of course, have a higher proportion of men in politics, it’s reality. Because two women meet, it is not simply because of their gender. Our meeting today is a chance… [to] really leverage the economic opportunities between our two countries. It’s our job to further it, regardless of our gender.”

The clip—which captures the moment in question—has since gone viral online, with a number of netizens emphasising the blatant sexism that still exists within international politics. Rather than posing a question about the political relationship between New Zealand and Finland—which would have been more poignant considering this was the first time a Finnish world leader had visited the country—this journalist decided to concentrate on diminishing the political stature of Ardern and Marin by insinuating that their reasons for meeting may share a similar hair care routine.

This is also, of course, not the first time either of these politicians have had to counter sexist remarks while carrying out their public duties. In August 2022, Marin faced a slew of criticism after videos surfaced of her dancing with her friends. The world leader was ultimately pressured into taking a drug test in order to prove the innocence of the event.

The New Zealand Prime Minister has also proved time and again that she will not stand for any gender-based criticism some may try to throw her way. In 2018, Ardern remained as calm as ever during an Australian 60 Minutes interview, wherein she endured an incredibly inappropriate line of questioning. At one point, reporter Charles Wooley told Ardern he was “smitten” with her and then proceeded to ask her when her baby was conceived. Poised as always, the Prime Minister simply rolled her eyes and continued with the conversation.

While these political leaders are more than capable of defending themselves and acting composed in public, the fact of the matter is that they shouldn’t have to condone such behaviour in the first place.

Keep On Reading

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Watch these TikToks of Oxford Street being taken over by hundreds of teenagers

By Alma Fabiani

The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 finale: Is a bonus episode or part 2 on the way?

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Man splits in half after jumping off New York building that houses Beyoncé and Jay-Z

By Abby Amoakuh

Meta’s Kendall Jenner AI avatar roasts 818 Tequila and endorses other celebrity alcohol brands

By Charlie Sawyer

Who is Candace Owens? The right-wing journalist who is besties with Andrew Tate and Kanye West

By Charlie Sawyer

How to get Glastonbury 2024 tickets using this tried and tested method

By Charlie Sawyer

364 days away from election day, Trump leads the 2024 US presidential election polls 

By Charlie Sawyer

How Brittany Broski went from viral Kombucha meme to internet royalty

By Lois Freeman

The ugly path to freedom: How I finally ended my teenage eating disorder

By Abby Amoakuh

From hot ugly to the Ryan Reynolds straight men theory, here’s what you missed on dateTok

By J'Nae Phillips

The girls are using maths and dinner to redefine womanhood, one TikTok trend at a time

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Documentary photographer Valentina Sinis tells all about the Iraqi Kurdistan women burning themselves

By Charlie Sawyer

Who is Tube Girl? Sabrina Bahsoon gives us the lowdown on her fave lip combo and hype-me-up playlist

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Nella Rose’s I’m A Celeb criticism proves that Black women can never win in reality TV

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Pregnant Kourtney Kardashian receives urgent surgery following a medical emergency

By Charlie Sawyer

Tinder’s new problematic feature lets users spend £5,000 to contact people they haven’t matched with

By Charlie Sawyer

New cancer-killing pill could completely eradicate tumours from patients’ bodies

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Who is Gilgo Beach murders suspect Rex Heurmann?

By Abby Amoakuh

Nella Rose faces backlash following explosive fight with Fred Sirieix on I’m a Celebrity

By Bianca Borissova

What is the girlfriend effect? Inside the TikTok trend improving men’s style