Girl power

In the 1915 utopianImpossibly perfect. The term comes from an ancient Greek phrase meaning "no-place" invented by Henry VIII's chancellor, Sir Thomas More, in 1516, as the name of an imaginary, ideal island. novel Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, society has achieved the impossible: a world free of war, crime, violence, poverty, waste, hunger.

How has society achieved such an incredible featAccomplishment or achievement. , you might ask? Gilman's society is made up entirely of women, who reproduce asexuallyIn a way that happens without sex. and live isolated from men altogether.

You might raise an eyebrow. If the point of feminismCalling for women's rights with the aim of achieving gender equality. is equality, shouldn't our utopia consist of men and women leading equally?

Perhaps so. But for centuries, men have occupied practically every position of power. It might be about time to flip the script.

We are far from making it a reality. As of January this year, there are only 26 countries where women serve as Heads of State of Government.¹

A study from the World Bank last year showed that only 14 countries across the world even offer full legal protection to women.²

And the problems do not end in politics. The UNUnited Nations. An intergovernmental organisation based in New York that aims to maintain international peace and security. estimates that if women were allowed the same opportunities in the labour market as men, a whopping $24 trillion, or 26%, could be added to global GDPShort for Gross Domestic Product, the measure of all the goods and services produced inside a country. per year.³

Moreover, what few studies we have suggest that we might be better off with female leaders. Recent Harvard research showed that women are rated more positively than men in 13 of the 19 leadership skills. The research also suggested that women are more equipped to lead in crisis situations.⁴

Women are seen by the general public as being more compassionateShowing understanding and sympathy to people who are suffering., more honest and more organised than men.⁵

We are in the age of crisis, haunted by the spectreA criminal organisation with which Bond has often tangled. The initials stand for Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. of pandemics, economic collapse, climate change, war and dangerous new technology. If women can handle stress better than men, perhaps we should hand over the reins.

But, as others suggest, this age of crisis may also require total cooperation - between all of us. Lobbying for more representation of women in power is one thing, but suggesting that we do away with male leaders could do more harm than good.

Would the world be a better place?

Yes: Women are more likely to be compassionate, organised and innovative. These are the most important qualities in a leader. Moreover, when more women join leadership at any level, they perform better.

No: The world will only be a better place when we have total gender parityWhen men and women are represented equally. - i.e. when men and women rule together in completely equal positions of power.

Or... Women tend to perform better as leaders now because they need to be truly exceptional to succeed due to the prejudices that they face. As it becomes easier for women to occupy these positions of power, they will be less likely to have this advantage.