Jacinda Ardern was appointed leader of the Labour Party in New Zealand on Tuesday, and within hours, the 37-year-old was asked—twice—about whether she plans to have children.
Anyone else’s eyes rolling out of their heads right about now?
Appearing on The Project on Thursday night, Ardern addressed whether it was appropriate to ask a female politician about her pregnancy plans.
“By all means lets have a conversation about the demands on women and the choices they are continually facing so that actually we can reduce the difficulty of some of those choices,” she explained.
Ardern stressed that asking a woman if she is pregnant to determine voting or employment viability was a whole other story.
The Project Co-host Carrie Bickmore added: “I think you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
“If you say ‘Yes, I want to have a baby’, then you’re criticsed. We had a Prime Minister here who was seen as barren and couldn’t relate to mothers. You can’t win either way.”
On Wednesday, Ardern told AM Show host Mark Richardson that his questions about her baby plans were “totally unacceptable in 2017.”
“For other women, it is totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace. That is unacceptable in 2017. It is the woman’s decision about when they choose to have children,” she said.
“It should not predetermine whether or not they get the job.”
Ardern added: “For other women, it is totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace. That is unacceptable in 2017. It is the woman’s decision about when they choose to have children.”
Who run the world? Girls.
