Swiss Ms.

The outcome, like Switzerland itself, contained elements of both compromise and illogic. After rejecting one female legislator, on what some called sexist grounds, for membership on the ruling seven-member Federal Council, parliament approved a woman nonlegislator with the same background (a French-speaking socialist) and roughly similar political views (a reduced role for the military, pro-E.C.). The principal difference between the rejected Christiane Brunner and winner Ruth Dreifuss, says Dreifuss, is that “I reassure people because I look a little plain.”