GT Writing Task 2 / Essay Sample # 136
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Some people think that if women were to rule the world, there would be less violence in it.
Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
Model Answer: [Partial agreement]
Many people believe that if women were in leadership positions, engaged in decision making, nations would work better and there would be less violence and precariousness, and more peace. In this case, I partially agree with the assumption because it depends on leadership quality and not on gender.
In many corners of the world, women are transcending from the traditional role into the public and modern roles. Due to their nonviolent nature, in general, the hypothesis emerged that the globe would be less violent and sustainable under female leadership. This notion has also been put forward due to women’s different opinions and paradigm thought. To illustrate, women, with the paradigm of thoughts, bring different prism of looking at the world, different approaches to analysing problems and different ways of offering remedies. A very good example here is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female president. She put Liberia back on its feet after 14 years of brutal civil war. Not only did she liberate her countrymen from the horror of civil war, but also stood down for Liberia’s first peaceful transfer of power since the 1940s.
On the contrary, women, many a time, are stereotyped as having an intellectual capacity that is different from men and emotional fortitude to reach the difficult decisions that leadership required. The deep-seated prejudice against women exerts profound influence in making their decisions. In other words, the fear of appearing feeble in fact affects women leaders, which in turn make them prone to waging war. A piece of research carried out by the National Bureau of Military historical research shed some fascinating historical light on this fact. A case in point is Margaret Thatcher. She went to Falklands war so as to save her premiership according to many historians.
To conclude, it has long been perceived that female leaders are less combative than their counterparts, more prone to seek peace than wage war. This is because the women have a different worldview which affects the way they approach a problem and come up with solutions. However, perception is not always grounded in reality. History shines lights on the fact that females are not always as peaceable as their trait suggests.