Strong young female voices in politics -the new generation

The future is female — we hear this very often. While politics is traditionally believed to be a man’s playground, women have entered the field and are demanding space for themselves. Women are changing the political scene, one voice at a time.

Photo by Sinitta Leunen on Unsplash

While women are still making up less than quarter of representatives in legislatures worldwide, these established and strong voices are key to amplifying the voices of upcoming generations of women with aspirations and ambitions in politics.

While the presence of figures such as Jacinda Ardern, Angela Merkel and Mette Frederiksen wowed the world with their swift, calm and collected COVID-19 responses (just to mention that topic), and the presence of the first female ethnic minority Vice President of the United States, there are plenty of other powerful voices in the international scenes. Here is an acknowledgement to some of them, but of course, the real list is much longer than this.

Deja Foxx

Deja worked as the Influencer and Surrogate Strategist for the Kamala Harris For the People Campaign full time at the age of 19. Being the youngest member on the team and the youngest member of any 2020 US presidential campaign at her level, she truly broke a wall about women’s participation in politics and is acting as a role model for young women with similar backgrounds and interests. She overcame an array of adversities such as substance abuse and hidden homelessness from a very young age and became a pioneer of change in her generation. She co-founded the El Rio Reproductive Health Access Project in 2017 which since served 17,000 people from disadvantaged backgrounds and helped them access STI testing, PrEP and birth control services. She has a strong social media presence and is inspiring young women all over the world. Recently she received some harsh criticism on social media and she handled it with maturity and in a collected way which shows her generation — and beyond that — how to preserve self-esteem and confidence despite the (sometimes quite harsh) criticism. Overall, we can say that she is consistently and committedly paving a way to make female and ethnic minority voices more heard.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

We all know her and her journey form a waitress to the U.S. House of Representatives is a story that shows you do not have to born into money to achieve things in politics. Alexandria not only the youngest woman elected to Congress, but is a pioneer and campaigner for equality, and speaks out on all the important issues. She taught many women to stand up to bullying and harassment — she put Rep. Yoho into his place after he repeatedly bullied and accosted her during a debate- she showed a fantastic example to everyone all over the world how to handle this behaviour in virtually any setting. Her passion and honesty is celebrated by women on social media all over the world. Recently she spoke out on her experience of sexual assault, shedding a light on this issue and not letting awareness slip on this problem. Standing behind the Green New Deal, she is a pioneer in environmental protection and is yet again showing excellent leadership.

Sanna Marin

Finland is a leader in Europe in education, health and social policy and this mentality is reflected in electing its leadership as well. The Finnish Parliament is not only dominated by women under 35, but in December 2019, they elected Sanna Marin as their leader. With this, she became the world’s youngest Prime Minister at the age of 34. Ms Marin was Finland’s transport minister before taking over from her predecessor. She is breaking a range of stereotypes, with coming from an LGBTQ+ household, and she was the first one in his family who went to university. One of the notable comments about her age and gender after being elected was “ I have never thought about my age or gender. I think of the reasons I got into politics.”. This statement reflects a positive and progressive attitude that shows leadership and leads by example for the generations following her.

Of course, this list is not exhaustive and it can never be exhaustive, and fortunately it is constantly extending. There are many more fantastic female voices in politics who are leading the way for activists, students and campaigners who are working tirelessly to achieve a more equal and just future and a better “political playground”. Because the future is female.