Today Isabella Lövin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate, posted this photo on Twitter and on her Facebook page:
If the picture looks a bit familiar, you might be recalling this one:
I first saw the juxtaposition in an article in bento (via SPIEGEL ONLINE) under the headline Here the Swedish cabinet trolls the USA — and incidentally makes important policy (my translation). I have since seen it noted elsewhere, e.g., The Hill, The Guardian, and BuzzFeed.
Lövin was asked whether the all-female photo was a direct attack on U.S. policy, and BuzzFeed quotes Lövin’s spokesperson:
“You can interpret it as you want,” Lovin’s spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. “It’s more that Sweden is a feminist government and this is a very important law that we just decided on.”
“We need climate leadership in the world today. And to make the Paris agreement happen we need climate leadership.”
“I would ask everyone to make their own interpretation.”
By the way, Sweden has 12 female and 12 male ministers.