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Editor praised on parenthood at 58 just three years after condemning female politician for the same at 48
Ben Hamilton
February 18th, 2021
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This article is more than 3 years old.
Ekstra Bladet front-page headline “Gravid som 48-årig” juxtaposed with “Poul Madsen jubler: Far igen” is a story of our times, argues affronted mayor of Helsingør
Benedikte Kiær has been taking back control (photo: News Øresund)
They are moments of sheer joy – sometimes so precious we don’t have the presence of mind to catch them on camera.
For Poul Madsen, not only was the first photo of him with his new-born child nicely timed, but he had the added bonus of sharing it with thousands of others via Ekstra Bladet.
The 58-year-old is the tabloid newspaper’s long-serving editor-in-chief.
The ecstatic editor (screenshot from eb.dk)
Grave juxtaposition
But the headline “Poul Madsen jubler: Far igen” offers a grave juxtaposition when it is compared to how the same newspaper reported the pregnancy of 48-year-old Benedikte Kiær, the mayor of Helsingør, in 2018.
“Gravid som 48-årig” rang the shock-horror front-page headline when news broke of the politician’s pregnancy. The article, which included a freely given interview, then revealed how she had received fertility treatment abroad.
A day later, Ekstra Bladet ran a follow-up article packed full of incendiary reader opinions with the headline “Det er egoistisk at være gravid som 48-årig” (it is selfish to be pregnant as a 48-year-old).
One of the ‘readers’, it transpired, had reached out to Kiær personally to tell her she should get an abortion.
Shock horror (image: eb.dk)
Congrats … on being a man
Kiær, herself, has ‘reached out’ to Madsen via Twitter to offer her congratulations, but it was tongue-in-cheek as it included the infamous front page of three years ago.
“Double congratulations! Congratulations on being a father again. Fantastic.” she wrote.
“And congratulations on being a man, so you do not have to go through the same disgrace mill that I had to go through. Including a really ugly front page of your newspaper!”
Dobbelt tillykke! Tillykke med at du skal være far igen. Fantastisk. Og tillykke med at du er en mand, så du ikke skal gennem den samme udskamningsmølle som jeg skulle igennem, herunder en en rigtig grim forside på din avis!
— Benedikte Kiær (@benediktekiaer) February 16, 2021
Praise for men, shitstorms for women
TV2 then reached out to Kiær to hear her thoughts on the matter.
“There is such a difference between becoming a mother or a father when you are in your 40s,” she said.
“I did not expect to be hung out in the newspaper. It only happened because I am a woman. How can it be that we still believe you can hang women out in a shitstorm, but with men you just say congratulations?”
Ten years Kiær’s senior
In an interview with Femina, Kiær pointed out how fellow politicians Martin Lidegaard and Klaus Riskær Pedersen had also become parents around the same time, but with no comment from the media.
And now Poulsen, ten years her senior, and his wife, 25 years his junior (stop it …), have well and truly trumped her.
Still unrepentant
Poulsen, though, is as unrepentant as he tends to be when it is pointed out his newspaper profits from sex worker ads and nude images of under-age girls.
“I would like to congratulate Benedikte Kiær on her child and that she succeeded – completely without reservation. I really just think she should have done that to me too,” he informed TV2 by a text message.
While he was at it, surely he should have congratulated France on winning the 2018 World Cup?
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