Dessima Williams: Well,do you feel that there is... that you were a leader who was a woman, or a woman who was a leader?

Eugenia Charles: I didn't think of myself as a woman.

DW: No... yes.

EC: It was really the papers in the Carribean that came up with "the first woman Prime Minister." I hadn't thought of that. I mean, I had been the leader of the party in opposition; when we won, I was the leader of the party in government. I just took it for granted that people wouldn't resent me and I'd take care of the things we had to do. And so I didn't look upon myself as a woman who had come forward. It didn't matter to me if you were a woman or a man -- there was a job to do and you had to do it.

EC: I was criticized...

DW: Yes.

EC: For not making it something special for women. I said, "Well I don't; I make something special about each person." Each person has a job to do to build a country, and whether you were a man or a woman, you had that job to do, and I insisted that you do it. You had to take on your responsabilities.

DW: Do you see yourself as a trailblazer, however?

EC: I don't think so. I think that I was the first woman Prime Minister. I don't think that anybody had been against a woman being Prime Minister before, it just hadn't happened yet. And I just happened to be the first, because of the way things always happen. It just happened, you know?

Note: This transcript represents Michael Cohen's best effort at accuracy, based on repeated viewings of the source tapes. Transcripts should not, however, be assumed to correspond perfectly with the oral statements they reflect. All statements are subject to interpretation and human error in understanding.

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