Spanish Defence Minister's Maternity Leave
Thu May 01, 2008 at 11:08:09 AM PDT
In many ways, Carme Chacón is the same as the rest of us mothers or mothers to be who try to balance career and family. Chacón, 37, is seven months pregnant with her first child. Unlike the rest of us (unless there are some very illustrious lurkers out there!), though, she’s having to negotiate maternity leave in headline news, because her job is as Spain’s defence minister.
There has been no announcement as yet on how long Chacón will take for her maternity leave. At least, none that I can tell from a cursory read from Google.es’s news summations. She has also fulfilled the travel component of her ministerial portfolio – as recently as Tuesday the 29th, she was in Sarajevo, visiting Spanish troops. I feel for her – I was still travelling when I was 7 ½ months along with Jessica, but boy, it wasn’t any fun at all. And having to walk around reviewing the troops while wearing heels, Ministera, se respeto mucho!
Chacón may be the most prominent woman in Spanish politics at this precise moment, but she is not alone in the cabinet - Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has appointed a majority-women cabinet, the first in Spain’s history, and the first in democratic history, to my knowledge. This is well within his political character, according to this Time article:
By now, no one should be surprised by Zapatero's commitment to gender equality. In his first term, he passed a sweeping law against domestic violence, legalized gay marriage, eased divorce laws, and required political parties to practice gender parity. He also appointed equal numbers of men and women to cabinet positions, and named María Teresa Fernández de la Vega as his deputy prime minister.
This time around, the prime minister, who was re-elected on March 9, appointed more women than men to his cabinet. He also created a new Equality Ministry, charged with ensuring fairness in the workplace and continuing the fight against domestic violence. "For the Socialists, gender equality has become a sign of identity," says Maribel Montaño, secretary for equality during the previous administration.
But for all the preparation, the sight of Chacón inspecting troops on her first day in office, with her rounded belly covered in a stylish maternity blouse, came as a jolt. After walking firmly past a line of erect soldiers in their dress uniforms, the minister gave a brief, adulatory speech, then led the troops in a rousing cheer of "Viva España!"
I have a shiver down my spine and tears in my eyes just reading this. Chacón is Spain’s first woman minister of defence, and she has no military experience.
Of course, there is never a move forward without the retrogressive backlash. Newly returned Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has a crack at the new government as below:
Referring to the fact that the Spanish prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, has just appointed Spain's first female-majority cabinet, Berlusconi said on Wednesday that "Zapatero has formed a government that is too pink, something that we cannot do in Italy because there is a prevalence of men in politics and it isn't easy to find women who are qualified ... He will have problems leading them. Now he's asked for it."
Typical. Thanks, Sil. Next time we want the geezer opinion, we’ll come back to you. In any event, congratulations to Ms. Chacón. I hope she weathers the rest of her pregnancy in good health and negotiates her way through her family/career balance with aplomb.
