Sarah Rarick, Gender Analyst for The Costa Rica News, participated Thursday in a worldwide discourse discussing if the increase of women in positions of high social and political power is an indicator of the decline of the macho culture that has dominated the world for millennia.
The discussion centered around the successful presidential election of Laura Chinchilla in Costa Rica and the unsuccessful presidential election of Yulia V. Tymoshenko in the Ukraine.
Ms. Rarick agrees that the election of women to positions of power is beneficial for women in general, but only to a point, she states that, “The rising trend of women in politics is a good trend. However, we cannot just hope or assume that their presence will lead to gender equality, because gender equality between men and women is only possible through specific, concrete and strategic political, economic and social policy.”
The radio broadcast can be listened to in its entirety on the Global Journalist website HERE.
The program was moderated by Professor Stuart H. Loory, Lee Hills Chair in Free-Press Studies at the Missouri School of Journalism and Sarah’s co-panelists were Vitaliy Moroz, Head of new media for
Internews; Megan Stack, Moscow bureau chief for Los Angeles Times; Eduardo Ulibarri, Professor of journalism at the University of Costa Rica and Chairman of the Institute of Press and Freedom of Expression in Costa Rica; and Fred Weir, Correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor.