The first lady who doesn't want to be one

The first attempt failed: "You promised to abolish the office of First Lady, instead Irina Karamanos will have her own cabinet," scoffed Chile's right-wing politician José Antonio Kast, 56, a few weeks ago.

That was a bit unfair, because Karamanos had dutifully assumed an office that she actually doesn't think much of. At that time, the young new left-wing government of President Gabriel Boric, 36, was still in the bumpy phase of finding itself. A well-received promise made by the left-wing politician and his partner Irina Karamanos, 32, during the election campaign was that the institution of the first lady would be abolished.

This function is not democratic and no longer up-to-date. But then Karamanos was initially assigned a dedicated team for her tasks, which, given the campaign promise, was called, slightly irritatingly, “Cabinet Irina Karamanos”.

But now they really want to try. By the end of the year, according to Santiago, the office of the "Primera Dama" will be history. Her duties as head of various foundations are reorganized. "The institutional role of the first lady will end with these changes," Karamanos said. And, she is sure, nobody will miss this role either. Least of all herself.

Boric and Karamanos were the telegenic dream couple of last year's Chilean presidential election campaign. They stand for a democratic awakening, a new style of politics and a generation that is supposed to banish the last stench of the Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990) from Chilean institutions. The grey-haired rival José Antonio Kast, who adheres to arch-conservative values, was unable to do anything against the young couple's casual urban glamor.

In the meantime, the first glamor has faded, the poll numbers are rather meager, and even an eagerly awaited referendum on constitutional reform, for which the couple worked hard, was clearly lost. Nevertheless, the zeal for reform has not flagged.

Since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship in 1990, the wives of the presidents – or in the case of ex-president Michelle Bachelet sometimes also the son – have exercised the function of “political partner”, which sometimes goes far beyond their presence on the social stage.

With that comes a fairly traditional family picture. Karamanos, who studied in Heidelberg for five years, fights for women's rights and gender justice. The role of an "appendage" doesn't really fit, especially since this often thwarts one's own career aspirations. In fact, she is the first to seriously question the institutional role of a first lady.

The social scientist is particularly bothered by one thing: the lack of democratic legitimacy. The Primera Dama was not elected, she got her job solely through her relationship status. There are actually no regulations at all as to how this role is to be performed, nor has there been a public discussion about how this mission is to be defined, Karamanos recently told the newspaper El Mercurio: "It seems important to me that elements such as transparency and the gender perspective into account.”

In September there was an old-fashioned meeting at the Brazilian consulate in New York. Michelle Bolsonaro, the arch-conservative First Lady and wife of right-wing populist President Jair Bolsonaro, who is extremely popular in evangelical circles, had invited.

The Brazilian rejects everything that Karamanos stands for: such as the right to abortion or an expanded concept of the family. The ideological gap between Michelle Bolsonaro and Irina Karamanos couldn't be bigger.

The group photo with hostess Bolsonaro in the middle and Karamanos standing a little to the side suggests that she didn't really feel comfortable with the seven first ladies. The meeting was organized by the "Alliance of Primeras Damas" (Alma), a network of First Ladies. The Chilean was then the only one who did not publish a photo of the meeting on her own Instagram profile.

She will no longer have to attend such events in the future. At the side of her partner, however, she will still fight for the common cause, self-determined and without a role: "From now on I will support the President and my political project from other places, not from the institutional space of the government."