Sanna Marin, Finland’s prime minister shocked audiences after posing for a magazine photoshoot wearing a blazer with nothing underneath.
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The PM’s risque outfit was featured on the October edition of fashion publication Trendi over the weekend, and many have taken to social media to put the 34-year-old on blast for her ‘inappropriate outfit’.
The centre-left leader’s photo, featuring the blazer with a plunging neckline, was posted on the magazine’s Instagram page. The outfit prompted many to blast her for damaging her ‘credibility.’ One miffed commenter even stated:
Yeah, a real role model. It would have been better in the darkest of clouds. Ridiculous that the breasts of a woman appear in two without a blouse. Someone with taste and sense of style.
However, many of Marin’s fans came to her defence and instead posted powerful messages of support to silence the haters. The group launched the hashtag #imwithsanna and filled the space full of Finnish celebrities and themselves wearing almost identical outfits. The hashtag has already been inundated with thousands of posts carrying powerful messages of support.
Stylish image. Anyone who condemns an over-open neck can stop hypocrisy. Our beautiful Prime Minister, who is a good role model for all Finnish women.
Such a wonderful woman who is not afraid to break the dusty hardened patriarchal formulas.
Trendi’s captioned their own post with a nod to Sanna’s famous social media activity and modern approach to a position so surrounded by patriarchal and archaic expectations.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin has a leading position as an example, a role model, a change of things and an influencer.
In the featured interview, Sanna spoke about the difficulties she has experienced so far in her first term as PM, revealing the ‘pressure’ and ‘exhaustion’ she has faced due to the coronavirus. She stated:
It's clear that these years are leaving their mark. This is not an ordinary job or a normal life but heavy in many ways. It may be that the pressure and exhaustion will build up and come later.
Professor of Gender Studies at Tampere University, Anu Koivunen told publication YLE that the PM’s boundary-pushing image should not have come as such a surprise and likened her position to that of former PM Alexander Stubb who also pushed the boundaries of what a Prime Minister could look like...albeit with much more spandex. Koivunen explained:
There are certainly some who think that Sanna Marin shouldn't appear in glamour magazines because it diminishes her position as a prime minister or politician. These politicians know very well what kind of discussions they are starting. They are very media savvy and this social media storm over Marin's outfit did not come as a surprise.
Marin became Finland’s PM back in 2018 at the time becoming the world’s youngest serving head of government.
According to Finnish media, Marin grew up in a ‘rainbow home’ with her mother and her female partner and lived in Espoo and Pirkkala before relocating to Tampere to become the first person in her family to attend university.
As a politician for the ‘Instagram generation’ Marin was an still is an avid user of social media. A powerful tool that so many underestimate in her field. However, back in 2015 Marin spoke to the Menaiset website where she confessed she never thought she would become Prime Minister.
When I was in high school, I felt that the people who make politics are quite different and come from different backgrounds than I am. At that time, I didn't think it was possible to get involved myself.
However, the young Prime Minister confessed that her mother was abundantly supportive of her and believed that Ms Marin could do anything she set her mind to.
And she wasn’t wrong!
