Canadian politicians defend Finnish PM's dance video, saying backlash born of double standard

As women around the world have taken to social media in the past few days, posting videos of themselves dancing to show #SolidarityWithSanna, some Canadian politicians and strategists are also coming to the defence of the Finnish prime minister, suggesting she is being unfairly judged due to her gender and age. 

Sanna Marin became a target after a video emerged last week, showing her dancing with friends at a private party. In the wake of the leaked clip, some political opponents questioned whether her judgment was impaired, prompting some to demand she take a drug test. 

Marin — who took the test and passed — said she did nothing wrong. 

"I didn't have any work meetings planned for that weekend," she said after the video surfaced. "I had work meetings on Monday that I, of course, handled. But we didn't have any government meetings during that week, and I had time off, and I spent it with my friends and did nothing illegal."

Marin became Finland's youngest prime minister in 2019, at 34. At the time, the Social Democrat told reporters she would remain true to herself. This isn't the first time her private life has become the subject of public debate, leading some to say she is being held to a double standard — while others say a world leader should always be prepared to be called upon to make important decisions. 

Montreal mayor Valérie Plante weighed in to this latest debate early, posting an Instagram story the next day featuring Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and the words, "Me, responding to the reactions to Finland's prime minister," adding an eye-roll emoji.

"The fact that this became a huge story is absolutely absurd," said former Liberal cabinet minister Catherine McKenna, who faced sexist attacks during her tenure, including being called Climate Barbie by an opposition colleague — an insult hurled at her for years by her critics.

"When you think about all the critical issues that we're going through in the world right now — a climate crisis, a COVID crisis, a security crisis — and that we are focusing on the way someone, a prime minister, but a real person, behaves in her own private time because she's a younger woman … then I think we've lost the plot." 

McKenna said she didn't go out socially for the first two years after being appointed minister, because she felt she was under such scrutiny and pressure.

Former NDP MP Peggy Nash says people often celebrate women's presence in public life, but then proceed to tear them down at the first opportunity. 

There is a clear double standard when it comes to women in politics — especially young women, said Nash, who wrote a book called Women Winning Office: An Activist's Guide to Getting Elected.

"I think for women — not only in politics, but in any aspect of public life — there is still this traditional stereotype of who is a leader," said Nash. "And that is male, unfortunately."

More leeway is given to male politicians who make mistakes, she said, as they are often thought of as not yet "fully formed," with room to improve. 

"Men are held to a standard of their potential, whereas women are held to a very rigid standard of accountability now," she said. "And it doesn't matter how much they've accomplished or what experience they have. They have to be hyper-perfect or else they get hyper-criticized. It's an unfair double standard."