It is a first for the Netherlands that there is a female mayor of one of the 4 big cities, let alone the capital. This is posted on /s/theNetherlands after all.......
edit:
No matter who would have been picked (gender included) there was expected to have a lot of critisism. The late Mayor was a very beloved mayor, who died due to cancer last year.
Still, the only newsworthy part is that she is not qualified for the position.
This is a blow against women. It's the same diminutive way that we treat young children. We would never treat an equal in such a condescending way.
Dude for real? Any new mayor assigned to Amsterdam (our Capital) is more then newsworthy, especially since he/she will follow up much beloved mayor eberhard van Der Laan who died due to cancer while in office last year........
There are critics that mention she's to inexperienced, it's not a given fact like you state. Halsema has been in Dutch parliament for 2 decades and chair of Green left party for over a decade. Yeah a leftist party, guess from which corner the critics are coming? In any way, any newly assigned mayor would have been dominating Dutch media and would be getting heaps of criticism in the Netherlands, no matter the gender or party affiliation.
I'm failing to see anything newsworthy here. A female mayor is not exceptional or noteworthy.
Being the 'first woman to <blank>' is no longer an accomplishment most of the time. Mundane acts don't become exceptional because 'vagina'.
I'm sick of patronizing any woman that finds her way out of the kitchen. I think it's insulting and sexist toward women when we imply that there is anything special about them being able to do 'mans work'.
Holy shit! She wasn't qualified for the job, and wasn't elected. She was appointed because she has a vagina, despite not meeting the qualifications.
This is not a win for women, it is a loss. This trend of pushing unqualified women ahead is why they become perceived as less capable diversity hires.