You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Throughout history, male leaders always lead us to violence and conflict. If a society is governed by female leaders, it will be more peaceful. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
Give reasons for your answer and give any relevant example or experience you have to support your answer.
You should write at least 250 words.
Sample answer
Most of the countries in the world are led by men, only a few countries are governed by women. I personally think that whether a government or a leadership brings violence or peace has nothing to do with the gender of the leader.
It is generally believed that women have gentler personality than men in the way they act. But, it does not guarantee that if a woman leads a country or a society, they can prevent conflicts, clash or violence from happening because a leader is not the only party causing or triggering conflicts. In running her government and taking a decision or a policy, a female leader cooperates with and discusses a lot with many other parties so I do not think that her mother figure will come first in dealing with various complicated problems her government is facing. Instead, she can not give priority to her feminine feeling (caring, loving, affecting, etc) in policy making. A leader, either female or male, needs to take action in accordance with the situation. That is why I believe that the gender of a leader makes no difference in this issue. Many countries like Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan were governed by female leaders and yet the conflict and violence increased during their time and this is a clear indication that a female leader cannot guarantee and peaceful society.
Moreover, conflicts often happen because of inability or bad leadership skill of a leader in running his or her leadership. In any country, the incapability of leaders, regardless of their gender, causes many problems leading to the unsatisfactory of people and the decrease in people’s trust level to the government, both of which are likely to result in chaos, clash, and conflict. I am convinced that everyone will agree that capability and leadership skill have nothing to do with gender. It is ridiculous to judge that men have a better capability in leading an organisation than women, or vice versa. Besides, the success and the failure of an organisation or a government are determined not only by the leader but also the staffs and the cabinet. No matter how capable the leader is, he or she will not be able to execute his or her government programs to bring prosperity for his or her people and to satisfy them if he or she does not have a good team.
In conclusion, the ability of a country to avoid and prevent conflict and violence depends on the capability of the leader, regardless of gender, to run the country. It is not wise to say that men with their masculinity bring violence and none can guarantee that women with their femininity will be able to bring peace for people.
[ Written by – Junaidah Nur ]