Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark (yourdanishlife.dk_-e1662559500420.jpg)

Women and Adversity:
21st Century Women
   Mette Frederiksen
Prime Minister of Denmark

I don’t know of any American woman who dedicated her life from childhood to a career in politics as Mette Frederiksen of Denmark has done. Her father, Flemming Frederiksen, said in an interview, “She has been preoccupied with political matters since she was six/seven years old.”

When Frederiksen was 15, she became a member of the Social Democrats’ youth branch. She was elected to the Danish Parliament, the Folketing, in 2001 when she was 24 and named spokesperson for her party for media, culture and gender equality. The work she did there is probably why she received the Nina Bang Award in 2002, which is given to a woman politician in Denmark. When given the award, she is cited as showing political courage and enthusiasm and “impact with social feeling.” She has been leader of the Social Democrats since June of 2015 and in June 2019 became the youngest ever prime minister of Denmark.

Although Denmark is a monarchy with Queen Margrethe II reigning since January 1972, it is a Constitutional monarchy, so  the Queen has no independent political power. This Scandinavian country’s primary land mass is the peninsula of Jutland, which has a 42-mile border with Germany. The country is also comprised of more than 400 islands and has a population of a bit more than  5.8 million. The Faroe Islands and Greenland are part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Frederiksen’s political agenda shows some contradictions.

  • She has left leaning views on the economy.
  • She has right leaning views on immigration, including a cap on “non-western” immigrants.
  • She has refused to compromise on immigration, saying in her biography that the lower classes suffer from it.
  • Social democrats voted to ban full-face veils. Offenders can be fined up to 10,000 kroner.
  • Social democrats voted to strip jewelry from refugees.
  • She is dedicated to climate change policies and is making climate change her top priority.
  • Her government is pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 70% below the 1990 level.

   Mette Frederiksen:

  • Born November 1, 1977 in Aalborg, Denmark
  • Earned a bachelor’s degree in 2000 in administration and social science from Aalborg University
  • Earned a master’s degree in African studies from the University of Copenhagen
  • Received the Nina Bang award for political enthusiasm

  Political career:

  • 2011, appointed to Minister of Employment
  • 2014, promoted to Minister of Justice
  • 2015, elected Leader of the Opposition
  • 2019, elected Prime Minister

  Personal life:

  • Married Erik Harr in 2003 and has a daughter and a son from the marriage
  • Divorced in 2014
  • Married film director Bo Tengberg July 15, 2020

Learn more about her:

www.yourdanishlife.dk
www.howold.co/person/pius-langa/biography
https://heavy.com/news/2019/08/mette-frederiksen

Article By: Jo Ann Mathews

I published three ebooks in 2020: Women and Adversity, Honoring 23 Black Women; Women and Adversity, Recognizing 23 Notable Mothers; and Women and Adversity, Saluting 23 Faithful Suffragists to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. These books are meant to be study guides for all students from grade school through college to help in choosing topics for assignments and to learn more about these noteworthy women. Go to amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and goodreads.com to learn more.

  1. Judith J Jadron says:

    An undoubted remarkable leader, what I found most curious is her Master’s Degree in African Studies–in light of her position on immigration regarding non-Western immigrants.

Write a Reply or Comment About This Article

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit exceeded. Please complete the captcha once again.

Archives

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 219 other subscribers

Discover more from Jo Ann Mathews

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading