Women in Charge: Success Against the Coronavirus – The New York Times

Posted: Published on May 23rd, 2020

This post was added by Alex Diaz-Granados

To the Editor:

Re Why Are Nations Led by Women Doing Better?, by Amanda Taub (The Interpreter, May 16):

I am glad to see female heads of state getting well-deserved attention for their remarkably successful leadership during the pandemic, but I was disappointed that the womens leadership was characterized as cautious and risk averse in contrast to more aggressive and forward leadership attributed to males. You have it backward.

When others took a cautious wait-and-see stance, women took swift, decisive action to fight the pandemic. They led their countries to go hard, go early, in the powerful phrasing of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand.

They established aggressive national testing and tracing programs. They communicated forcefully and clearly. And they did all of this at great political risk. Imagine how they would have been pilloried if these costly interventions had been no more successful than the laissez-faire approach of some of their male counterparts.

We must stop stereotyping womens leadership as passive and tentative. In this instance, it was men like Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro whose leadership was passive, weak or absent.

Monique VanLandingham Somerset, Va.

To the Editor:

Amanda Taubs article exploring the reasons female leaders are getting better results with the coronavirus pandemic reminded me of what my husband learned when he took his first avalanche safety class: Youre much less likely to die in the backcountry if theres a woman in your group.

Whether its biological (testosterone triggers poorly thought-out decisions that result in death) or social conditioning (men have competitive hubris, women are more comfortable asserting safety concerns), the statistics prove it.

As pointed out in Calamity Lesson, a Jan. 5 article about avalanche fatalities in The New York Times Magazine, All-female groups make better decisions in risky situations than all-male groups or mixed-gender groups.

Given this, and now that weve all seen with our own eyes how testosterone doesnt preclude irrational mood swings and emotional outbursts, I think our country is readier than ever for the steady hand of a reasoned, experienced and capable female vice president. Bring her on. Please.

Madeleine Berenson Avon, Colo. The writer is a ski instructor.

To the Editor:

Amanda Taubs article about the success of women-led countries dealing with Covid-19 leaves out one important factor. The fact that a country elects a woman as its leader speaks to the sensibilities of its people. Draw your own conclusions.

Original post:
Women in Charge: Success Against the Coronavirus - The New York Times

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