‘I AM MY OWN
BIGGEST
HURDLE.’
Jacinda Ardern is prime minister of New Zealand.
She was the second world leader in modern history
to give birth while in office (daughter Neve was
born in June 2018). Nine months later Ardern
responded to the massacre of 50 people at mosques
in Christchurch by demanding gun law reform.
“Myself. I am my own biggest hurdle, because no
one will be a bigger critic of me than me. Whether
or not you’re your own worst critic, whether or not
you overemphasize your confidence deficit, I do
think many women are much harsher on themselves
and on their abilities. And I’m one of them.”First of all, I was creat-
ing a sort of new field in
Sri Lanka; marine con-
servation was pretty
unheard of before I
started. The other chal-
lenge is that marine
conservation is very,
very Western-centric:
almost perceived as
a field that belongs
in the developed
world. So I had to prove
myself, not just as a
woman, but as a locally
grown woman.THE MARINE BIOLO-
GIST HAS BECOME AN
EXPERT ON THE BLUE
WHALES FOUND OFF
THE COAST OF HER
NATIVE SRI LANKA.
ASHA
DE VOS
The biggest hurdles I’ve
had to overcome have
probably been racism
and misogyny and fat
phobias. Just dealing
with living in a body that
this world has tried to
legislate or discriminate
against in a lot of dif-
ferent ways throughout
history. Sort of working
against that while trying
to just live and thrive
is a challenge.A SOCIAL CRITIC AND
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
FACULTY MEMBER,
GAY IS AUTHOR OF
BEST-SELLING BOOKS
INCLUDING HUNGER,
BAD FEMINIST, AND
DIFFICULT WOMEN.
ROXANE
GAY
Î
Î
PHOTOS: ERIKA LARSEN, DEEPTI ASTHANA (DE VOS). ILLUSTRATIONS: LAUREN TAMAKI. INTERVIEWS HAVE BEEN EDITED FOR LENGTH AND CLARITY. 49