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Rediff.com  » News » VOTE! Do women make better politicians than men?
This article was first published 13 years ago

VOTE! Do women make better politicians than men?

Last updated on: October 13, 2010 11:28 IST

Image: French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde
Photographs: Molly Riley/Reuters

Many male politicians may find it hard to digest, but France's Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has claimed that women actually make better politicians than men as they're not prisoners to their libido and testosterone.

VOTE! Do women make better politicians than men?

Image: Bill Clinton almost lost his presidency over his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky
Photographs: Allison Shelley/Reuters

Lagarde, voted Europe's top finance minister by Financial Times last year, said that her 30-year career as a high-flying lawyer left her convinced that men's ego, sex drive and testosterone made them prone to taking decisions personally and humiliating people.

VOTE! Do women make better politicians than men?

Image: 2 powerful female politicians: US Secy of State Hillary Clinton with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi
Photographs: B Mathur/Reuters

Most women in power, on the other hand, were less ruled by their libido and thus able to make more cool-headed judgments, The Daily Telegraph quoted the 54-year-old minister as saying.

VOTE! Do women make better politicians than men?

Image: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi repeatedly hits the headlines for his sexist comments
Photographs: Stefano Rellandini/Reuters

"Women inject less libido and less testosterone into the equation. It helps in the sense that we don't necessarily project our own egos into cutting a deal, making our point across, convincing people, reducing them to a partner that has lost in the process," Lagarde said.

VOTE! Do women make better politicians than men?

Image: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin allegedly had an affair with gymnast Alina Kabayeva
Photographs: Reuters

Added the world's 43rd most powerful woman according to Forbes, "It's probably overgeneralised and I'm sure there are women who operate exactly like men. But I honestly believe that the majority of women in such positions approach power in a slightly different manner."

Lagarde was voted Europe's top finance minister by the Financial Times last year for her handling of the global financial crisis.

VOTE! Do women make better politicians than men?

Image: US President Barack Obama and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy with a junior G8 delegate
Photographs: Jason Reed/Reuters

She took a seven-fold salary cut when she gave up her job as chairwoman of Baker and McKenzie, the international law firm, to become French external trade minister in 2005 before President Nicolas Sarkozy picked her as the country's first ever female finance minister.

Do you agree with Lagarde? Do you think their libido and testosterone levels affect the performance of male politicians? Do women make better politicians than men? VOTE!