A historic meeting took place yesterday. British Prime Minister Theresa May, in her first trip abroad since moving into 10 Downing Street, traveled to Berlin to sit down with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The confab was noteworthy because it underscored that this is the first time the two nations have had women as leaders at the same time.
Inevitably, the meeting of the minds, at which May said official Brexit talks will not start this year, led to stories about the similarities between the two. Interestingly, both women are daughters of ministers of the church, a fact that led the Guardian to point out that other women who have held high positions–such as former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice—share the same background. The paper also said May and Merkel are effective leaders, implying that that would help them get along. Fair enough.
But this is what I find funny. The BBC reports that German headlines have called May “The British Merkel.” Yet when Merkel was poised to become chancellor back in 2005, she was compared to Margaret Thatcher—and was even referred to as “Deutschland’s Iron Lady.” As far as I can tell, no one calls her that anymore.
Perhaps at some point, to borrow a sentiment from Serena Williams, we will refer to “female world leaders” as just “world leaders.”
Laura Cohn