Chile's First Female President

The SMH has reported the election of Chile's first female president with former political prisoner, Michelle Bachelet securing a 53.2% majority over businessman Sebastian Pinera. It is a surprise outcome despite Bachelet, according to The Guardian being the favourite to win. She will be only the third woman to be directly elected president of a Latin American country.

According to a UK BBC News article, 'Chilean society is often portrayed as ultra-conservative dominated by men and the Roman Catholic Church. Only 4% of senators are women and divorce was only introduced last year', thereby showing that the role of women in Chilien society is yet to reach its full potential. With the election of Bachelet into presidency, it seems that things are set to change. A self-proclaimed socialist who 'wears many hats', and considered one of the most radical candidates in the electoral campaign, The Guardian reports that Bachelet's election 'reflects Latin America's increasingly leftward tilt'. Is this an implication towards the political inclinations of our genders with the male tendencies to be more right wing and the female tendencies to represent left wing ideologies?

Interestingly enough, according to the SMH, Bachelet is one of the only known female presidents who did not follow a politically prominent husband into power. A look into all the female presidents such as Ireland's Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, around the world, it seems that it rings true in that Michelle Bachelet is possibly the only femlae president not to have followed her presidential husband into power - Bachelet is a separated mother of three. One cannot help but wonder if this will affect her popular image in a patriarchical society. Bachelet herself states that it was not a problem when she was a minister and it should not be an issue if she becomes president. That said, it seems that she is willing to devote all her energy towards championing a better Chile, stating that 'I hope there will come a time when I have time for my children, for my family, and if a boyfriend, better, but otherwise I can live.'

On the topic of gender, the New York Times makes an interesting comment, stating that 'the tally this time suggested that class may have trumped gender', referring to an election six years ago, where Bachelet lost the electoral vote to Ricardo Lagos. It seemed that 'doubts had been expressed about whether Chilean men would be willing to vote for a woman', but the result of her marginal win is greater than that of her predecessor, Lagos. This article, in particular, makes special reference on the gendered aspects of the election as well as touching on the economic inclined voting that was likely to affect the outcome.

At the time of this particular story, numerous news sites have reported similar informative articles with many of the tabloid sites (namely, News Limited and the UK Times) appealing to the scandalous nature of her win through her status and 'colourful past'.