Opinion: The G7 ‘boys club’ is back
From official G7 gatherings in the Bavarian mountains to court rulings in Washington, it almost seems like the Earth is turning upside down.
Does the arc of the moral universe, which has become almost cliché, really lean towards justice? Is history moving towards more freedom, more equality, more democracy, more peace? One could be forgiven for thinking that these ideas are the product of naively optimistic minds. But is this the right conclusion? Let’s come back to that in a moment.
For a decade and a half, Merkel was a key player in the G7, always the only woman except for the two years when Britain’s Theresa May joined her. The reality is that the grouping, like the most powerful institutions in the world, has always been overwhelmingly male.
Centuries of imbalance cannot easily be reversed, as is now shockingly evident.
However, our view of history is limited. And the story is long.
The battle is tough, frustrating and includes crushing – temporary – defeats. But the story does not end there. And setbacks, significant as they are, don’t happen everywhere.
A very dear friend, a very successful woman, told me a few days ago that without the right to abortion, “I would be living in a caravan”. The stakes are simply too high to allow the usurpation of rights.
Another lesson from history is that positive change doesn’t happen without hard work by people who are committed to doing the work it requires. The image of the G7 will include women national leaders in the not too distant future. And in the United States, women will regain the rights that are now taken away from them.