This week the youngest prime minister in the world, Sana Marine, hit the eye of a cyclone. The reason for the publication was several videos in which the 36-year-old Finn dances wildly with her friends, sings and poses for the camera. In one of them, the voice of a passer-by can be heard saying, “It makes you feel great,” a remark that prompted Finnish opposition party leader Riku Pura to demand that Ms. Marin undergo a toxicology test, while many criticized her behavior. with or without drugs.

Forget mobile phone

Sanna Marin’s love of partying is well known and her fun is the part she refuses to give up because of the criticism she gets from part of Finnish society. In December, she publicly apologized when she forgot to take her mobile phone with her on a walk, which prevented her security from finding her to tell her she had come into contact with a positive case of COVID-19. But this time, although Ms Marin expressed her displeasure that private moments were made public, she refused to apologize for how she prefers to spend her free time.

“I have a family life, a professional life, and free time that I spend with friends,” said Ms Marin.

“I have a family life, a job and free time to spend with friends, like many other people my age,” Ms Marin said on Thursday, emphasizing that she will remain the same person. will be acceptable.

Toxicological examination

Although he denied ever taking drugs: “I danced and sang and had fun and everything super-legal,” he announced on Friday that he had passed a toxicology test. “I didn’t do anything illegal,” he stressed, saying he decided to take the test to dispel any suspicion to the contrary. “I believe people understand that leisure and work can be separated,” Ms Marin said. But to what extent does this apply to politicians, especially to young women?

“Politicians are judged everywhere and always in plain sight”

According to the communicator George Flessapoliticians must always be very careful, as they are always exposed.

“There is no privacy these days” indicated in “K”, “everything you do can be made public.” Although in theory there is a distinction between public and private life, in practice politicians are judged everywhere and are always in the public eye.
Even if something isn’t immoral, “you don’t know how you’re going to be judged,” he notes, stressing that Ms. Marin’s video made no impression on him.

Finns, he emphasizes, are “much more liberal” while Greek society is “very conservative, a society that loves overreactions.”

Standards and regulations

“In Greece, I would advise everyone, men and women, to be very careful,” he says, of course noting that the standards and “rules” change depending on the time of year.

“In PASOK, it was acceptable for politicians to wear bouzouki and dance zeybeks,” he says, referring to a characteristic photo by Andreas Papandreou. “Now they don’t go, because 10 years of the crisis have passed.”

The communicator is also Pericles Pilides you can see something “even remotely reprehensible” in the video. She emphasizes that this has nothing to do with her gender or age – “she could be 80 years old and she wants to have fun.” says “K”“man dancing is not a problem.”

What will come out

The problem is that it was made public for a moment, unwillingly—“you have to watch what comes out,” he states—but emphasizing that it is precisely for this kind of behavior that Ms. Marin has a fanatical following. With regard to Greece, Mr. Pilides says that “the voter wants to have an MP next to him, as well as the local government, but he puts prime ministers in a ‘different chair’.”

“However, with regard to some manifestations of more relaxed behavior, I would probably advise doing this, because it also gives out a more human profile,” he emphasizes.

Stereotypes and rules of “correct” behavior

“You always think you have to be careful” accent on “k” Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Domna Mikhailidou. For her, the fact that this or that ministry is about vulnerability automatically means that “on the level of symbolism, one cannot go to extremes.” However, Ms. Mikhailid was only 30 years old when she assumed the duties of a Deputy Minister and continues to lead her life as a “young politician living her youth.”

“In everyday life, I ride a motorcycle to work every day, at home I carry vans, after work I go to bars to dance, I don’t want to change my character and my spontaneity,” he states. He points out, of course, that all of this has to do with whether your work is affected – if it isn’t, we should ask why some legitimate things can be reprehensible, and whether they can be reprehensible when women are involved. .

She gives an example by saying that when she was asked in a group of her fellow politicians what she discusses with her friends, she was criticized when she replied that they were talking not only about unemployment and stagflation, but also about more personal issues.

“I was attacked”

“I had a terrible seizure,” he says. “You feel like, as a young woman, you have to constantly prove that your voice is equal parts resonant and down to earth,” she adds.

Regarding Ms. Marin’s video, she notes that no matter what kind of work she did, she would not be happy if the relevant personal moment of hers was made public and took up so much space, but he understands her desire to dance. “You really need it,” he explains, emphasizing, of course, that when you are a politician, entertainment always depends on the current situation in the country, for example, you cannot burn your country and go dancing.

constant stress

“There is a pattern in politics.” says “K” head of the financial department K.O. SYRIZA Efi Ahtsioglutalking about the separation of private and public life of a politician and whether the “rules” are different for young female politicians, “which corresponds to a man over 60 years old – nothing else, he gathers a general opinion with curiosity and difficulty.”

Ms. Ahtsioglu mentions that especially when she was the Minister of Labour, Social Protection and Social Solidarity, this particular issue worried her a lot.

“If I go out after work for a beer, if I’m with a band, if someone or I yell louder, if I go to a concert? Pieces of everyday life that are very difficult to accept,” he notes. I would have been in my free time, but I was afraid that they would say “here the world is on fire and she went out for a beer”, and not only.

“I really wanted not to be thought that I don’t work, not to be thought that I am not serious, as if anyone who dances at a party is not serious,” she says, emphasizing that there are two stereotypes: one gender, different age. “The root of the problem is ingrained stereotypes, patriarchy is still very ingrained,” she explains, adding that she has now decided that stereotypes cannot define her life.

For Vice President of the European Parliament Eve Kylieit is important to note what Sanna Marin has achieved so far in regards to the fight against the pandemic, the war, the initiatives she has taken and the social reforms she has carried out in Finland.

“I understand that when this is your work, it is unfair to judge by a picture that was not intended for publication,” indicated in “K”. As for herself, she emphasizes that when she began her political career, “when we were more conservative as a society, what I experienced made me very cautious.” “There is a lot of pressure and criticism on you, often people will be more concerned about the picture than the work you have done; a snapshot can affect your image, and this applies more to women, although I think that a man being in a particular video would have the same attitude, ”he says.

“However, women are much easier to judge, public opinion is much easier to disturb,” she emphasizes. Pressure to be discreet – even though she’s having fun with her friends, she tries to protect her private moments – she’s accepted. “Every day, in my opinion, the most difficult thing for a citizen is not to provoke him,” indicated in “K”“and work so hard it’s not a problem to have fun.”