Politics

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Brings Feminism to His Home Life

April 10th 2016

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has long been a role model for other politicians in terms of embracing feminism as a tool to run the country. But Trudeau doesn’t only walk the feminist talk in his prime minister job. He also teaches feminist principles at home.

In an interview with Vox, Trudeau said that he believes it’s important to talk about social issues and equality with his children early in life.

Trudeau said he's had conversations with his kids about LGBTQ rights, the stigma of mental illness, economic differences, and gender inequality. He recalled a time he had to intervene with a tough discussion about gender with his daughter Ella-Grace.

“I caught Ella-Grace at one point leafing through a magazine, a Vogue or a Cosmo or something, and saying, 'Yep, she's a 10; she's just sort of an eight, but the face is sort of medium.' I was like, 'My God, Ella! Sophie, come here and tell Ella! Ella, you can't judge people by their appearances.' She said, 'But this is a magazine that is all about judging people on appearances.' So, I thought, 'OK, I'm raising a good debater there.' But just talking about it and getting through that reflections and engaging with inner strength, inner beauty, real people, personality, like, all that stuff. It's messy being a parent, but it's exciting."

Watch the full interview here:

Since the beginning of his term in office, Trudeau has stressed the importance of gender equality for Canada and said feminism principles would guide his policy-making. His words weren’t just political fluff: He named a gender-balanced cabinet in 2015.

When asked why he did so, he had a straightforward answer:

“Because it’s 2015,” he said.

Trudeau's team sought out women in leadership whom they believed should come forward as candidates. He’s since worked to keep women in leadership and strives to make work-life balance a possibility for lawmakers in order to keep parity in Canadian politics. 

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