Awkward! Host Nation Japan Sends Male Minister to Chair G7 Women’s Empowerment Meeting

Japan recently hosted the Group of Seven (G7) summit on gender equality and women’s empowerment, participated by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, the USA, and of course, the host nation.

During the summit, members of the intergovernmental political forum discussed many pressing matters, from gender economic imbalances to sexual violence.

However, the recent two-day summit inadvertently became well-known for a faux pas that took place, the most obvious being an awkward photo-op between representatives of the G7 nations.

This is because Japan’s representative at the women’s empowerment meeting was a man, Masanobu Ogura, who also acted as the meeting’s chairperson, while the other nations’ representatives were women.

As reported by TIME, the awkward situation highlights the host nation’s struggles with gender equality. Based on the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap Index, Japan is the lowest G7 member on the list at number 125. In fact, that ranking is also incredibly low in general, as the index only lists 146 countries.

However, Ogura, a Japan Cabinet Minister was unperturbed by being the sole man in the women’s empowerment and gender equality meeting, saying that male leaders with strong enthusiasm for gender equality are still needed.

So, what do you guys think of the whole situation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

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