WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s freshly installed opposition leader Jacinda Ardern was drawn into a sexism row on Wednesday after being asked if having a baby would affect her chances of becoming prime minister.

Just one day into her new job with the centre-left Labour Party, the 37-year-old had already been asked twice in separate interviews about whether she intended to become a parent.

Ardern responded graciously to the initial line of questioning with a non-committal answer, saying it was a dilemma lots of career women faced.

“I’m not pre-determining any of that, just like most of the women out here who just make their lives work,” she told TV3.

But she took exception when told on the same network that New Zealanders had a right to know her plans for parenthood before they decided whether or not to vote for her as prime minister.

Ardern said women should be employed on their qualifications, regardless of their baby-making plans. “It is totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace,” she said. “It is the woman’s decision about when they choose to have children. It should not pre-determine whether or not they get the job.”

The grilling by cricketer-turned-TV host Mark Richardson lit up social media, with many commentators saying a man would not face similar questioning.Even Prime Minister Bill English, who Ardern hopes to oust in a Sept 23 election, leapt to her defence. “People who are out in the public eye, I think, benefit from a bit of support rather than questions that are really only about their private business,” the father-of-six told reporters.

Madeleine Holden, a commentator on pop culture website thespinoff.co.nz, said it was a “retrograde debate” that shifted the focus from Ardern’s policies. “Asking Ardern about her plans to have children implicitly reinforces the sexist notion that a woman’s primary role is motherhood, no matter how accomplished she is in other areas,” she wrote.Ardern assumed the leadership from Andrew Little on Tuesday after polling showed Labour was heading for a disaster in next month’s election. She will attempt to prevent English winning a fourth term for the centre-right National party-led coalition.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2017