That was the question of the day.

After cleaning up the flat in the morning, I went with the kids to the market place and Café Burts where the kick off of the campaign of the Greens was held. The general election is going to be held in March and in the region of North Savo we have a very exciting possibility to get a first Green representative to the national parliament. Our candidate Raimo Tuomainen is a wonderful person; he’s an academic who, at the same time, is very down to earth and easy to approach. He has been involved in the Greens for a long time but this is the first time he has stepped from the background to the spot light. And I’m very pleased he did. I myself was a candidate in the general election four years ago, and was asked last year again but I said no. And I’m so happy I said no and stuck to my point although many tried to talk me over. Raimo is so much better candidate than I ever would have been!
Raimo talked beautifully today about celebrating fatherhood, about new fatherhood and how much men are missing by working too hard when the children are young and how men are sometimes completely set aside from their families. I also think that he is a very good person to promote equality between the genders. With Mari Puoskari (a candidate in Helsinki who is also the chairwoman of Green Women whose board member I was 2005-2006) Raimo shared views about women’s euro (=80cents) and the glass roof women run against during their carriers.
But it’s not only equality that is important to Raimo. He also values highly art and culture.
So I think it’s better to vote a man who is aware of the gender inequalities than a woman who thinks all professional success is up to the individual’s talent and effort, no matter what you have between your legs.

So today was a confirmation for me. I’m not going to hesitate to give my vote to a man.