Costa Rica elects first female President

Great write up in the Women Count Blog about Costa Rica electing its first female President.

“Last week history was made in Costa Rica when Laura Chinchillawas elected the first women president in the country’s history. Chinchilla won with 47% of the vote. She had served as the Vice President and had the full support of outgoing President and Nobel peace prize winner Oscar Arias.

This is a huge accomplishment not just for women in Costa Rica but for all of Latin America, which is still largely dominated by male leaders. Chinchilla has a long political history. She has served as Public safety minister, Congressional deputy, Justice Minister and of course Vice President.

Chinchilla is married with a teenage son and is a graduate of Georgetown University here in the United States.

Though women across Costa Rica and throughout the world celebrated her victory, claiming it to be a victory for all women, some women have remained hesitant. In fact some say it is more of a victory for one woman versus all women. The reason being that Chinchilla is a Social Conservative who is very vocal about her views against gay marriage and abortion.

Despite the hesitation by many women’s groups, we should still give the moment it’s proper recognition. When witnessing women succeed at breaking that glass ceiling in other countries it should give inspiration and motivation to female politicians in the United States and across the globe. If Costa Rica can break that ceiling, so can we.”

Given her politics, it’s important point to note that simply increasing the numbers of female MP’s/leaders does not necessarily guarantee that the world will be a better place.