By Hud Lesprit -November 1, 2022

The Prophet ﷺ said in an authentic hadith:

“Never will succeed a nation that makes a woman their ruler.” [Bukhari]

Consider Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton, and Nancy Pelosi. If you’re unfamiliar with American Politics, consider Angela Merkel, Margaret Thatcher, and Queen Elizabeth II of England—who passed away just last month.

What do all of these political women have in common?

They all have short hair and try to look like boys.

Isn’t it surprising how all of these ‘women in politics’ role models adopt the look of masculine tomboys and look nothing like the average female?

If you feel like the examples I’ve given above are anecdotal, please consider the following list:

• Jennifer Granholm
• Christine Todd Whitman
• Madeleine Albright
• Janet Reno
• Barbara Boxer
• Dianne Feinstein
• Geraldine Ferarro
• Sandra Day
• Madeleine Junin
• Patricia Harris
• Theresa May

The list just goes on and on. 

Within the contemporary political sphere, long-haired feminine women being in vital positions is something of an anomaly. The most notable exceptions are Melania Trump and Michelle Obama, and they only became famous due to their relationships with important men. It had nothing to do with their own personal accomplishments.

This fascinating observation regarding women in politics raises some interesting questions such as:

“Why is it that all of these women try so hard to embody masculine features?”

Feminists claim that it is due to the rampant misogyny within the political sphere. They say that women feel pressured into adopting a masculine code of conduct so they will be accepted by their peers. Politics is somewhat misogynistic. Earlier this year for example, elected official Cécile Duflot (French housing minister) decided to attend the French National Assembly wearing a floral dress. How did the male ministers react?

The Guardian reports:

It wasn’t Duflot causing the commotion, but rather the male ministers who wolf-whistled and shouted: “Phwoarr!“

(…)

It comes as no surprise that both these men, and many others who wolf-whistled, leered and phwoarred, are in the opposing Union for a Popular Movement party. What they did wasn’t appreciation, or even a joke, it was cold political strategy – using a woman’s gender against her.

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Feminists however, have this unfortunate habit of seeing patriarchy as the cause of every evil. Their analysis of short hair and pants in politics might be a little convincing, but it is also somewhat victimizing and naïve. Another commonsensical explanation is that these masculine qualities are actually essential for exercising power and leadership.

Masculinizing politics is therefore a necessity. And stating this is not being misogynistic.

Negotiation, persuasion, leadership, delegation and loyalty require a person to have qualities such as high stature, confidence, charisma and sometimes even aggressiveness. Likewise, handling the affairs of millions of people is an extremely stressful ordeal. Enduring this level of pressure, while effectively making the best decisions, requires stress management and cold thinking. In relation to all of these points, women are generally inferior to men.

Women in politics act masculine because politics itself makes you manly. They try to look like men because they wish to be imposing like men. This simple explanation is the most evident, but it will never be a satisfactory answer for modern feminists. Acknowledging this simple fact undermines the West’s policy over the past seventy years of integrating women.

If you consider all of this from an economic standpoint, the Western policy of parity and positive discrimination is one of the most absurd decisions that one could make in appointing a leader within any community.

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Some might argue that women are only generally inferior in terms of political qualities, and the fact that some women can be better leaders than some men is sufficient to argue in favor of giving women a chance in politics—since some elected women will be capable of doing a better job than some elected men.

This is completely fallacious. Nobody cares about who may or may not be potentially better on average. It is an undeniable fact that the top 100 best leaders are all men. Nobody grants political power to the average citizen. It just makes sense to take the best of the nation and to elect him as the leader.

The fact of the matter is that when it comes to political qualities, all the elites of the nation are men.

Why then take the risk of assigning such roles to women?

The inevitable consequence of forcing women into politics is the bringing about of a less efficient parliament and a less effective government for matters that are crucial and vital for everyone.

Alhamdulillah, Islam does not fall into this bottomless pit because it prohibits women from being given positions of leadership.

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