Sir, – Your editorial on the presidential election in France is a good illustration of the hypocrisy which surrounds the issue of women in politics.
If Valérie Pécresse or Anne Hidalgo, the centre-right and centre-left candidates respectively, had advanced to the second round and had a chance to become the first female president of France, you would no doubt hail it as a historic development which could shatter the glass ceiling for women.
But since Marine Le Pen has advanced to the second round, you instead describe it in foreboding terms as a "shock" and "an outcome that would send shockwaves across Europe" ("The Irish Times view on the French election: Two weeks to avert a shock", April 12th).
It seems we want more women to take leadership roles in Ireland and Europe, but only the right kind of women, with the right kind of views which accord with the dominant media and political narrative. It is exactly this kind of attitude which drives voters into the arms of extremes of right and left in the first place. – Yours, etc,
SARAH-ANNE CLEARY,
Strokestown,
Co Roscommon.