Brazil Elects a Woman as the President

On Sunday, October 31st, Dilma Rousseff was elected president of the country of Brazil. She defeated Jose Serra, the former governor of Sao Paulo, with 56% of the votes, while Jose Serra had only 44% of the votes. Dilma Rousseff is joining the democratic wave of female leaders from the past 5 years, the wave of democratic female leaders includes Michelle Bachelet, elected in Chile, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, elected in Argentina, and Angela Merkel, elected in Germany.

Although the people of Brazil still voted very strongly for the continuing of their former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff won the title in the end.

"[Mr. da Silva] hand-picked Ms. Rousseff to be his successor, campaigning tirelessly for her." (Source: The New York Times; In a First, Brazil Elects a Woman as President) "He treated this campaign like a re-election campaign." Demetrio Magnoli, a sociologist, says on the television on Saturday night.

"But Mr. Serra struggled to articulate a consistent campaign message and, with Mr. da Silva in her camp, Ms. Rousseff, a twice-divorced grandmother who opposed and was imprisoned by the military dictatorship in her early 20s as part of a militant group, proved too tough to beat."

Personally, I think it was a big deal, since women are being elected as presidents of different countries instead of men; and women were never thought of as authority figures, in the early years of election to now. Even though women have the right to vote, some people think they're not fit to be in the presidential race. So it is a very big deal.

Source: The New York Times