New Zealand, Finland leaders answers sexist question

• Jacinda Ardern and Sanna Marin are two of the youngest heads of government in the world.
• They have been subjected to questions regarding their ages and gender.
• A journalist asked whether they met because they were of similar age.

As two of the youngest heads of government and among a small number of female international leaders, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, and her colleague in Finland, Sanna Marin, have been subjected to inquiries regarding their ages and genders for a significant amount of time.

On the other hand, they were ready to dismiss the concerns of a journalist who inquired on Wednesday about the point of a prime minister from Finland’s historic first-ever visit to New Zealand.

“A lot of people will be wondering are you two meeting just because you’re similar in age and, you know, got a lot of common stuff there,” the journalist said during a joint news conference in Auckland.

Ardern, who is 42 years old, was eager to interrupt the person asking the question.

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“I wonder whether or not anyone ever asked Barack Obama and John Key if they met because they were of similar age,” she said, in reference to the former prime ministers of the United States and New Zealand.

“We, of course, have a higher proportion of men in politics, it’s reality. Because two women meet it’s not simply because of their gender.”

Marin, who is in New Zealand as part of a Finnish trade delegation, stressed the developing trade links between the two countries. Marin is 37 years old.

“We are meeting because we are prime ministers,” she said in response.

Later on this week, she will return home from her trip to the southern hemisphere after spending time in Australia.

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