What’s up guys? Happy Valentine’s Day (when you are reading this)! I hope everyone is surviving this week and is looking forward for a relaxing weekend! Now let’s get on to the blog!

For this week, I thought it would be cool to look beyond the US and find some really cool international women who are killing the game. Our women today hails from Finland and is setting records while only being 34 years old. This past December, she became the youngest person in the world to assume head of a government and, this is my favorite part, she leads a coalition of 100% badass women.

Her name: Sanna Marin!!!

So, who is she and where did she come from? According to a New York Times article, Johanna Kantola, a professor at a Finland University, says “she doesn’t come out of no where and she is quite well-liked”. She has been a significant figure in Finland’s Social Democratic party ever since she began her work in Parliament in 2015. However, she begins her job accompanied by some animosity and tension following a contentious election.

She is an advocate for social welfare, climate change, and equality which makes her seem like she is at the complete left end of the spectrum even in her own party. However, despite her disagreements with other people, many of her constituents commend her for ability to remain calm during contentious situations.

Another thing many find inspiring about her is that her hard work and dedication has payed off. It is known through an interview with a Finnish magazine that she did not have a stable childhood, as she was forced to move around a lot, and her parents divorced when she was younger so she grew up with her mom and her mom’s female partner. A part of living with two females as her parents, she explains that she felt like she could not publicly talk about her living situation out of fear of scrutiny or being ostracized. Her background has shaped her moral beliefs which, in turn, has molded into what she believed Finland’s top problems are: inequality, human rights, and reformed social obstacles.

So, as she is being prime minister right now, along with the leadership of 4 other parties, who are also all lead by females, it made me think of this tweet I saw from another New York Times article. The tweet was by Alexander Stubb, a former Prime Minister of Finland, who said “My party is not in government, but I rejoice that the leaders of the five parties in government are females. Shows that #Finland is a modern and progressive country. The majority of my government was also female. One day gender will not matter in government. Meanwhile pioneers”.

Yes, I think we should celebrate women being trailblazers and doing the unthinkable but, it saddens me sometimes that being a Prime Minister who is 34 and female is unthinkable. Or, that being a female president in the United States is the unthinkable. Or, being anything that warrants respect that a man gets on a daily basis is unthinkable. It saddens me that when someone like Sanna Marin accomplishes a feat like this it is almost incomprehensible and it goes to show that no matter how much progress women have made in their respective industries, we often hold still hold some implicit biases against women that perpetuate in how we interact with them, in person or online, on a daily basis.

BUT, I am so so proud to be living in a time where places like Finland are showing that women filling leadership roles is not something other countries should be scared of, or deem as impossible to function. It also gives me hope that in following years we will see more countries join in electing more women in politics, or just in everyday jobs, because women CAN and WILL get the job done! Period!

Well, that is all! I hope everyone has an awesome day!!

Brianna Mitchell 🙂