MONROVIA, Liberia -- In almost every sense of the word, there is a vast distance between this impoverished West African country and prosperous, sophisticated Chile. But they share a legacy of bloodshed and oppression that color the politics of today. And in both countries last week, it became clear that voters had chosen female presidents not despite -- but at least in part because of -- their sex.
For Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, an economist and banker who was inaugurated Monday and is the first woman to be elected president in Africa, and for Michelle Bachelet, a general's daughter who was elected as Chile's first female president, a key to victory was the power of maternal symbolism -- the hope that a woman could best close wounds left on their societies by war and dictatorship.
Unlike Margaret Thatcher and Golda Meir, the strong women of the previous generation, Bachelet and Johnson Sirleaf have embraced what they have both called feminine virtues and offered them as precisely what countries emerging from the heartbreak of tyranny and strife need.
"We have been fighting wars for 15, 20 years in this region," said Rosaline M'Carthy, leader of the Women's Forum in Sierra Leone, who traveled here last week for the inauguration. "To see the first female president elected from a war-torn country shows people are now beginning to see what men have wrought in this region. It is the minds of men that make war. Women are the architects of peace."
On the campaign trail, Johnson Sirleaf was sometimes called the Iron Lady. But another, more popular name was her favorite: Ma Ellen. In her speeches, she often compared Liberia to a sick child in need of a loving mother's tender care.
Western news reporters, schooled in taboos against referring to female politicians as matronly or grandmotherly, hesitated to use such language to describe her. But she and her supporters heartily embraced it. It conveyed, in this culture, that this candidate might finally bring some unity and peace to a fractured society.
Both women suffered for their political beliefs. Johnson Sirleaf served two terms in prison under the dictator Samuel Doe, and narrowly escaped rape and execution. Bachelet survived jail, torture and exile under the dictatorship General Augusto Pinochet imposed from 1973 to 1990.
While Bachelet was more the Western feminist in her style, her core argument conveyed something similar: that she was better prepared than her rivals to heal her society and reconcile the Chilean military with the victims of its rule. She recently joked to a biographer that perhaps she should give up a struggle to lose weight. Otherwise, she said, "Chileans would lose the mother they have been seeking."
Bachelet has promised a more inclusive Cabinet and more women in top jobs. "We are going to have a new style in national politics, with more dialogue and participation," she vowed in her victory speech.
As in Liberia -- where the crowd at Johnson Sirleaf's inauguration was exuberant in expressing hopes for "Mama" -- the crowds in Chile gave a clear sign of what is expected of their new leader.
Any other Chilean politician would almost certainly have honored old custom and greeted the men before the women: "Chilenos y Chilenas." Bachelet reversed the order, calling out, "Chilenas y Chilenos."
The women in the crowd broke into ecstatic cheers.
For Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, an economist and banker who was inaugurated Monday and is the first woman to be elected president in Africa, and for Michelle Bachelet, a general's daughter who was elected as Chile's first female president, a key to victory was the power of maternal symbolism -- the hope that a woman could best close wounds left on their societies by war and dictatorship.
Unlike Margaret Thatcher and Golda Meir, the strong women of the previous generation, Bachelet and Johnson Sirleaf have embraced what they have both called feminine virtues and offered them as precisely what countries emerging from the heartbreak of tyranny and strife need.
"We have been fighting wars for 15, 20 years in this region," said Rosaline M'Carthy, leader of the Women's Forum in Sierra Leone, who traveled here last week for the inauguration. "To see the first female president elected from a war-torn country shows people are now beginning to see what men have wrought in this region. It is the minds of men that make war. Women are the architects of peace."
On the campaign trail, Johnson Sirleaf was sometimes called the Iron Lady. But another, more popular name was her favorite: Ma Ellen. In her speeches, she often compared Liberia to a sick child in need of a loving mother's tender care.
Western news reporters, schooled in taboos against referring to female politicians as matronly or grandmotherly, hesitated to use such language to describe her. But she and her supporters heartily embraced it. It conveyed, in this culture, that this candidate might finally bring some unity and peace to a fractured society.
Both women suffered for their political beliefs. Johnson Sirleaf served two terms in prison under the dictator Samuel Doe, and narrowly escaped rape and execution. Bachelet survived jail, torture and exile under the dictatorship General Augusto Pinochet imposed from 1973 to 1990.
While Bachelet was more the Western feminist in her style, her core argument conveyed something similar: that she was better prepared than her rivals to heal her society and reconcile the Chilean military with the victims of its rule. She recently joked to a biographer that perhaps she should give up a struggle to lose weight. Otherwise, she said, "Chileans would lose the mother they have been seeking."
Bachelet has promised a more inclusive Cabinet and more women in top jobs. "We are going to have a new style in national politics, with more dialogue and participation," she vowed in her victory speech.
As in Liberia -- where the crowd at Johnson Sirleaf's inauguration was exuberant in expressing hopes for "Mama" -- the crowds in Chile gave a clear sign of what is expected of their new leader.
Any other Chilean politician would almost certainly have honored old custom and greeted the men before the women: "Chilenos y Chilenas." Bachelet reversed the order, calling out, "Chilenas y Chilenos."
The women in the crowd broke into ecstatic cheers.