WHEN DINOSAURS RULE, THE TRUDEAUS AND MACRONS DESERVE CREDIT

See full text at: https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/when-dinosaurs-ruled-the-world-stage/article36211610/ by Tina Brown, founder and CEO of Tina Brown Live Media, Globe and Mail, September 8, 2017 Canadian feminist friends tell me not to fall into the trap of Justin-mania when we in the U.S. look wistfully north across the border. Yes, we know gender parity in Prime Minister Trudeau's cabinet doesn't solve daycare problems; that women may be on equal footing there, but are still underrepresented in Parliament. Yes, we appreciate that attempting a "feminist foreign policy" can be a little tricky when Canadian-made armoured vehicles are used by the deeply repressive Saudi Arabian regime against its own citizens. Yet even as we pay due deference to skepticism about Mr. Trudeau, consider the players in our global horror show: Trump, Putin, Venezuela's Maduro, the Philippines' Duterte, Turkey's Erdogan, the ever-jovial Kim Jong-un ogling his phallic warheads. Toxic testosterone has been unleashed on the world with a vengeance ( . . . ) We should have seen it coming. Social progress is never linear or inexorable. The creation of the modern liberal order provoked the retorts of communism and fascism and the deaths of 120 million people ( . . . ) One of the things that American liberals were guilty of in 2016, after eight years of Barack Obama, is that they were surprised. Mr. Trump's crude interpretation of what manhood looks like is a direct reaction to the progressive gains made in the past decade by women, minorities and the LGBTQ community. But if the world's stage is dominated by the battle of the dinosaurs, the rise of Mr. Trudeau and of French President Emmanuel Macron proves that a different, more evolved paradigm of masculinity can win. The smart, engaged women they have married are true thought-partners, not trophies ( . . . ) For proof positive that it's time gender stereotyping expired, look no further than Angela Merkel, Germany's mighty Chancellor. Women too emotional? Just the sight of Ms. Merkel's purpose-built cherry jacket and roomy grey trousers in an ocean of self-congratulatory power neckties at a G20 summit affords us some relief: Thank God for one sure-footed professional with moral clarity at the centre of the chaos. "With Merkel," says historian Margaret MacMillan, "it's never about her." As the founder of the Women in the World summits, I am not about to argue that if women ruled the world, we would see more kumbaya ( . . . ) But I will contend that in America's long trudge toward gender equality, the new political brutalism has triggered a tipping point. Since the Women's March on Washington, the largest single-day protest in U.S. history, women in record numbers have been signing up to run for office. They now fight back against bullies and harassers with a clenched fist in the velvet glove. The busting of the bro culture at Uber and the revolt against sexual harassment permeating Fox News forced reform by rattling board rooms and shaming advertisers. Dubious male statues are noisily being torn down, but a startling new female sculpture has gained permanence in the nation's hearts: the small bronze figure of Fearless Girl facing down the bull representing the iconic firms of Wall Street ( . . . ) So after seven months of Trump macro-aggression can we not celebrate the Trudeau government's steady if imperfect progress in gender equality? Credit the PM's judgment and recruitment energy that some of the top players in his cabinet are women he's trusted with big meaty jobs ( . . . ) They have power, not just " influence." If inserting the word "feminist" before "foreign policy" means that 95 per cent of bilateral foreign aid by 2022 will benefit women (or for that matter giving refuge to 31 terrified gay and bisexual men fleeing Chechnya's cruel homosexual purge), I say bring it on. (posted by Louise Dulude)