On October 19th, Canada made history. Canada elected its first hot prime minister.
Sure, the decade long Conservative government was dethroned and Stephen Harper, its fearless/tactless leader, resigned from office. Sure, a man widely regarded as an "eco-terrorist" stepped aside to allow Canada to see Liberal Red for the first time in ten years, and yeah, it was a landslide majority government elected by the highest voter turnout in decades. But that's not the real story. The real story is how very, very, very attractive the new prime minister is.
If you don't believe me, look it up. Liberal leader and Canadian royal, Justin Trudeau, is indisputable in the hotness category and the world is paying attention. For the first time ever, Americans are taking to Twitter to submit their approval for our elected representative. People from all over the world are writing articles and verily salivating over the super-fine man in power. This is a great day for a country, nay, for a world that has long hoped for the reality of a sexy, sexy commander in chief.
At first, I didn't see a problem with this. But you do, don't you?
This would be outrageous and unacceptable if he were a woman.
Let's pause and talk about Belinda Stronach for a moment. For those of you who are unfamiliar with her, Stronach was a Conservative member of parliament from 2004 to 2008, crossing the floor to join the Liberals sometime in between. She was minister of human resources and skills as well as a successful businesswoman and philanthropist. She is most famous for dating Minister of Justice, Peter MacKay, and being really hot.
I remember what it was like when she came into her position. The internet was a firestorm in the wake of a sexy woman taking such a prestigious place in parliament. Nearly everyone threw in their two cents about how very hot she was, but soon, her looks were all anyone would talk about. Her work was disregarded, the "slut' word was thrown out, and pretty soon after that, Stronach was nothing to the media but a pretty face. Feminists raged about how awful it was for her to have to deal with being objectified. As a woman, she had the right to be heard for what she was trying to do for Canada and NOT because of her looks.
Do you see what I'm getting at?
I admit it. I distributed the photo of shirtless, boxing Trudeau over my social media and commented on how very, very fine he is. Why did I do that? Why did I reduce a man, a respected public figure, to a sex symbol when I know for a fact that I would have been out for blood if people were doing this to a female politician? Why am I being so completely hypocritical right now?
Canada's Liberal leader and Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau walks on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, October 20, 2015.
I'm about to say something that no feminist will want to admit -- there IS a double standard. We think that men can handle this kind of behaviour. They're big boys, they can take the objectification, it's not a big deal, we're only admiring their beauty, they probably love the attention... and do you see what's happening right now?
Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau worked for this position. He put in the miles for his campaign trail, held his own in the debates, showed cooperation with rival parties, and rose from third place to a shining first. His father is a Canadian legend, and for all we know, he could be cut from the same cloth. And still, I am a hundred percent sure that none of this matters to a lot of people because he is so damn sexy. This would be OUTRAGEOUS and UNACCEPTABLE if he were a woman.
I objectified a potentially great leader and I am taking this moment to say that this is a HUGE problem. We bash every man who decides to "appreciate" the beauty of women that they find attractive, but if a woman decides to do this to a man, it's fine. It's really not. Treating a human being as a sex object, regardless of their gender, is degrading and disrespectful. We feminists hate it when we are expected to love unwanted attention, so why should men be expected to love it instead?
He deserves to have us speak to his actions and not his appearance.
We need to see the facts. We need to see the accomplishments. We need to see the potential, the motivation, the love, the fear, the kindness, the strength, and the position of every human being instead of throwing it down the drain because of their "pretty face". I think it's time that we, especially feminists, start practicing what we preach, don't you?
I still think Justin Trudeau is hot. I stand by my attraction, but I will not let it overshadow my hope for his potential in government. I won't reduce him to a mere object when he is a leader who aspires to do good for a country that desperately needs it. He deserves to have us speak to his actions and not his appearance. All people deserve that.
Justin Trudeau is not just a pretty face. I hope that we can start seeing this for all men and women now.
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