Monday, August 22, 2022

Women are posting their own dancing videos in support of Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin

Sana Noor Haq - 3h ago

Women across the world are posting videos on social media of themselves dancing, after criticism was leveled at Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin for leaked footage that showed her partying with friends.

The video clips, which appeared last week, showed the 36-year-old leader dancing with friends in a private setting.


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Women have been posting videos on social media to show their support for the Finnish Prime Minister.

Some political opponents condemned Marin’s behavior in the videos as inappropriate for a Prime Minister.

Women have been responding to this criticism by tweeting clips of themselves dancing, using the hashtag #solidaritywithsanna.

“The sky is the limit for Dancing Queens,” one user tweeted.

“We should all dance a little more! I stand in solidarity with Sanna,” another user posted.

“Let’s dance for each other,” another said.

Others have defended Marin and accused her critics of applying a double standard.

“Why can’t she party after work? Do we expect our leaders not to be human beings?” tweeted Ashok Swain, a professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University in Sweden.

“How shocking!!! A young politician who does her job and enjoys her private life… Why can’t a young woman have fun? I can’t stand gender double standards,” Spanish politician Iratxe García Pérez tweeted. “All my support to @MarinSanna.”

After the release of the videos, Marin acknowledged partying “in a boisterous way” but said she was angry that the footage was leaked to the media. She said alcohol was consumed but that she was not aware of any drug use at the party.

On Monday, Marin’s office announced the negative results of a drug test, taken after an opposition MP called on her to get tested.


Why women are dancing in solidarity with Finland's prime minister

NPR
August 22, 2022
JULIANA KIM
Twitter


Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has faced a backlash over videos that surfaced of her dancing and singing with her friends.Johanna Geron/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

People posting pictures and videos of themselves partying online has become a political statement for some women.

In social media feeds, women are showing themselves dancing, singing or holding a drink to show their solidarity with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin. She has been under public scrutiny after videos of her dancing and singing with friends circulated on the internet. Those videos were meant to be private, according to Marin.

"I have a family life, I have a work life and I have free time to spend with my friends. Pretty much the same as many people my age," Marin said, according to the Finnish outlet Yle.

Some criticized her behavior, questioning her maturity and competency. Others called for Marin to take a drug test, which she took on Friday in response to the criticism.


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Finland's prime minister takes a drug test after criticism over her partying

The reaction to Marin's behavior struck a particular chord for some women who feel that in both their personal life and in politics, they are held to an unfair standard.

At Alt for Damerne, a Danish weekly women's magazine, female employees compiled a montage of themselves dancing to show women supporting other women.

"Our first idea was to write a column or editorial but then we thought, let's do this with some kind of humor and show that we all have those clips on our camera roll that wasn't supposed to see the light of day," Editor-in-Chief Rikke Dal Støttrup told NPR.



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Støttrup added that Marin's ordeal reminds her of the treatment of Helle Thorning-Schmidt, a former prime minister of Denmark who received criticism over her taste in designer clothes.

Rixt Van Dongera, a public affairs coordinator from the Netherlands, also posted a video of herself at the Lowlands Festival with the caption "#SolidaritywithSanna."

"I wanted to support her and all our rights to be an individual next to her extremely busy job and have fun with her friends," she told NPR. "Dancing with your friends should be regarded as a great way to use your free time."

Marin, who is 36 years old, was elected in 2019 — becoming the country's youngest prime minister and the world's youngest serving prime minister.


















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