New Zealand Prime Minister Jasinda. Alden announced the pregnancy News after the public attention, she recently in the BBC interview mentioned that the career and the mother of how to balance the view: "Women can take care of everything, but not alone."

New Zealand Prime Minister Jasinda. Alden (Jacinda Ardern) released the pregnancy message in January 2018, becoming the second country leader in history to become pregnant during his tenure.

Note: In 1990, Pakistan's then prime minister, Benazir Bhutto (Benazir Bhutto), became the first person in history to produce pregnancy.

The state Prime minister and mother status, recently Jasinda. Alden was interviewed by the BBC to discuss whether the Prime Minister's pregnancy felt social pressure, through dialogue, to let the public understand how the social role of women in supporting domestic chores was expected in the patriarchal system, and to understand the practical obstacles to women's workplace and reproductive issues.

The Prime Minister of New Zealand, through his own life experience, as a woman, we can be strong and vulnerable coexistence, we can pursue achievements in the workplace, while requiring partners to share the responsibility of family care, workplace and childbirth, should not be two choice of one.


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In this generation, women's reproductive choices should not affect future job opportunities.

October 2017, Jasinda. Alden becomes New Zealand's youngest prime minister since 1856.

Announcing her pregnancy at the beginning of the year, she announced that she would take on another new task-to become a mother. And with her unmarried partner Clark. Gefford (Clarke Gayford), a joint child-rearing, is expected to greet their first child in June 2018. Postpartum Jasinda. Alden will apply for 6 weeks maternity leave, New Zealand will have 6 weeks "no Prime Minister's Day", during maternity leave, will be Deputy Prime Minister Peters (Winston Peters) temporary positions. (Recommended reading: do not get married can it?) --Single parent to break the imagination of the core family

According to the Washington Post , there are many people on the web who question how Alden can do the job twice. "I'm not the first woman to work and take care of children," Alden told a press conference. "I know there are many women who have done a good job before me." 」


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In 2017, Alden received a program interview, the moderator asked, if the prime Minister, "Can you take maternity leave to have a child?" "Let her take a serious response on the show:" I decided to talk about it because I was happy to answer it. "Then she said to the host:" But you, you in 2017, asked women in the workplace to answer such questions, it is completely unacceptable. 」

Alden further said that in this generation, women's reproductive choices should not affect future job opportunities, "whether a woman is in the workforce or has a job opportunity when she decides to have a baby is not something that prevents them from making decisions." "This rhetoric, supported by many female leaders and women's rights groups, has set a strong example of how women should not choose between motherhood and leadership," Alden.

"Every woman should have a choice that can take care of her family and career," Helen Clark, the former prime Minister of New Zealand, said on Twitter. "This is Alden's personal career plan, but it also helps to prove to young women that leadership is not necessarily a barrier to having children and planning fertility," Nikolastekin, Scotland's first minister, said. 」

After taking office, Alden also immediately adjusted the maternity leave system in New Zealand to increase paid maternity leave. The New Zealand Congress passed in 2017, with paid maternity leave from the existing 18 weeks, from July 1, 2018 onwards to 22 weeks, and the beginning of July 1, 2020, and further extended to 26 weeks. Parents can enjoy up to 6 weeks of paid leave before their children are born.

In addition to Alden practice, women do not have to make a choice between the workplace and the female position, a New Zealand writer believes that Alden announced that her partner will be the primary caregiver for the child, which could also open the discussion of how men can get more paternity leave, "which means boys have other options as men." "With the partner to maintain the relationship between children, but also for the community to open up a husband and wife of the traditional family, more yuan of the married family Imagine."


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New Zealand Prime Minister Alden: "Women have the ability to take care of everything, but that doesn't mean we need to act easy."

In an interview with the BBC reporter, Alden in the past, she has been talking to a lot of full-time, Stay-at-home housewives and feeling the pressure of women in the workplace and childbirth, but she believes that women are capable of taking care of everything, but it does not mean that we are striving to pursue the career and ideal family life Women need to show that everything is simple, women can express their vulnerability in time, seek help, and do it through the help of others. (Recommended reading:"Gender Watch" written on the eve of Mother's Day, I can not be super Mother )

The following excerpts of the interview are shared with you:

Reporter: "premier, I would like to ask you about the pressure of the problem." Do you feel it? Since you were pregnant, it has become a topic of universal concern. To some people, you will be a mother, and for some, you will be a ruling prime minister-a working mother. Do you feel the pressure? 」

PREMIER: "Not only do I have this feeling, I think every woman has the same pressure." I've talked to full-time mothers and working mothers that they always want to be another, and that the stress of this issue and women's feelings is not new. But for me, because people knew I had to take on the role of prime minister, I felt less guilty because I had a responsibility. 」

The Prime Minister: "I am not a superwoman, and no woman should be expected to be a superwoman." We need perseverance, determination and assistance from others to help us achieve our goals, responsibilities, and achievements. 」

Reporter: "Do you think women can take care of everything?" 」

The Prime Minister: "I think women can take care of everything, but they shouldn't bear it alone." I don't agree that women are going to make a difference in all aspects, and they have to act like they are in control and everything is easy. Not so, we have been struggling, we may be on the road to a little bit of guilt-and this guilt is a woman should not have. We should not bear everything alone. 」

Reporter: "Do you think all the questions about pregnancy are a kind of prying into privacy behavior?" 」

PREMIER: No, not at all. I am the second country leader in history to be pregnant during my reign, and of course people will be curious to talk about it, and I don't mind at all. But I hope that in the future, people are not interested in the fact that women govern and are pregnant. (laughter) "

Women often expect themselves to take care of everything at the same time, can be strong, and behind some of the reasons from the patriarchal system on the mother's expectations and supervision.

Through the ideology of the "intensive motherhood" (intensive mothering), the patriarchal system is strengthened to control the female position, and the practice of the mother-work is drawn out in the invisible between the standard and the line. According to the social scholar Sharon Hays, the intensive motherhood is the product of the specific historical space-time and social construction, which influences and shapes the practice of the female in modern society.

When society looks to women in the role of household care and emphasizes motherhood as a female instinct in a concentrated sense of motherhood, the institutionalization of the institutional (motherhood) will shape a " A flat image of a good mother, women are not encouraged to speak of the frustration and exertion of caring for their children, are discouraged from exposing their weaknesses, and are not encouraged to admit that they are a mother who still needs to learn.

These patriarchal culture to shape the image of the female, so that women in the part-time field and the status of the mother will have a lot of self, fear can not achieve the society to "good mother" expectations, can not practice the family responsibility in good part, became "dereliction of duty" mother.

Through the examples and interviews of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, we can begin to dismantle the social expectations of the consolidation of motherhood, and if you want to take care of it, don't be afraid to show your weakness by negotiating a division of labor with your partner, and sharing family responsibilities, so that women can practice their career achievements and family responsibilities