Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has received backlash after being accused of 'mansplaining' when he interrupted a woman to encourage her to use the term 'peoplekind', rather than 'mankind', at a recent town hall event in Canada.
At the end of a question regarding the church and the power of 'maternal love', the female questioner asked the PM to examine laws surrounding the charitable status of religious organisations, concluding that 'maternal love is the love that's going to change the future of mankind'.
Trudeau replied: 'We like to say "peoplekind", not necessarily "mankind", because it's more inclusive."
While his remark received a round of applause from the audience and a 'there you go!' from the questioner, it's caused controversy from the wider public who have accused the politician of 'virtue signalling' and 'mansplaining'.
Meanwhile, others have argued the backlash against Trudeau is unfair and failed to mention the woman and the audience's positive reaction to his comment.
Following the 'peoplekind' interaction, Trudeau began to answer the woman's question about charitable volunteering, before she interrupted him right back to ask him to study the Bible with her.
Vice argued: 'It seems like this is less a snuff film of "common sense" than it is the prime minister doing a reasonably good job of handling an intensely religious Christian-adjacent heretic. The video clip is real, but it has been cut to play as a (funny and believable) lie.'
Of course, this isn't the first time the prime minister has come under fire for his actions and comments regarding women and feminism.
A year after he announced his cabinet would be filled with an equal number of men and women in 2015, the politician was shamed for accidentally elbowing NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau's chest during a confrontation on the floor of Canada's House of Commons.
'I completely apologise,' Trudeau subsequently the House. 'It was not my intention to hurt anyone.'
In 2017, Justin Trudeau appeared in a discussion with Melinda Gates and revealed that only after seeing a video of actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt saying he was a feminist, did the politician realise 'it's ok for men to say they are feminists in a public sense'.
The revelation came moments after admitting he once refuted a former female colleague's claims that men can't be feminists and saying the idea opened up 'room to have discussions'.
What do you think? Is criticism of Trudeau's 'peoplekind' comment unfair or justified?
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
