Being bold: how President Hassan is dismantling gender stereotypes

Since she was sworn in as President of Tanzania on March 19 this year, ‘Mama’ Samia Suluhu Hassan has on a number of occasions explicitly delivered the message that men and women are equal. In her very first speech as President she said “I know there are people who have doubt and ask, ‘Can this woman be the President of the United Republic of Tanzania?’ Well, I would like to tell them that the one standing here is the President of the United Republic whose biological status is that of a woman.”

Cementing her identity as being bold in her womanhood, the president in her most recent address to the parliament on April 22, 2021, reminded the house and indeed the public that women were not made with less capable brains than men. She went on to add that it is the environment and the company that one is surrounded with, that shapes that person’s leadership abilities. She drove the point home by adding that she was raised both in the right environment and the right company, and she is confident that she has what it takes to run the country.

But why does the president need to remind us that men and women are equal; or that she is capable to lead? It becomes clear that the issue of gender is inseparable from leadership, when the leader on the high seat is a woman. It also becomes clear that a female leader in a world that is dominantly patriarchal needs to address historical biases among those being led such as: “I can’t be led by a woman”. Although these biases are rarely uttered loudly, they are very much present and must be confronted head on – exactly what President Hassan is doing.

What is important is how the President is pushing the gender equality agenda forward by ‘being’ - and, more importantly: by actually ‘doing!’

‘Being’ and ‘Doing...’

President Hassan became the very first female president of Tanzania. This certainly moved the dial in terms of gender equality. Among the seventeen global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs-2030), is Goal number five which calls for gender equality by Year-2030. One of the indicators in this goal is the proportion of women in leadership in various levels, including national Parliaments, local governments, and managerial positions in both private and public institutions.

However, being a woman in leadership alone - and without using the position to directly address gender stereotypes - is not enough to truly empower women.

What President Hassan is doing is enacting her role both by being and doing. This is what holistically moves the dial in the women empowerment agenda.

By explicitly stating that she is aware of pre-existing biases that may undermine her leadership as a woman, she is setting the tone, and clearing the noise that would otherwise clog her performance.

Her words, although calmly delivered, fly far and wide like a butterfly, and sting like a bee!

Also, the current digital world favours President Hassan’s efforts, as every word has the potential to reach and empower millions of people. In fact, sustainable development goal number five also aims at enhancing the use of information and communications technologies such as mobile phones to promote the empowerment of women. With mobile telephone penetration almost ubiquitous in Tanzania, President Hassan’s attempt to dismantle gender stereotypes from the top, will certainly reach and empower many women and girls.

As such, it is incumbent on all female leaders to emulate President Hassan’s approach and be bold in their womanhood. As a woman, being elected or selected into a leadership role is one step towards gender parity.

But to complete the puzzle, women leaders must directly challenge gender stereotypes by starting with those immediate to their work environments.

That is important because sustainable women empowerment requires the dial to be moved not only by increasing the numbers of women leaders, but also by changing mindsets.

Ms Kimaro writes on careers, leadership, personal development and issues affecting youth and women