Government time is being consumed in Sweden to accommodate a very niche phobia of, who else, the government’s Minister for Gender Equality, who has a very strong aversion to bananas.
New revelations about the lengths to which 41-year-old Liberal Party politician Paulina Brandberg, Sweden’s Minister for Gender Equality, has her aides go to protect her from bananas have emerged in Sweden.
Brandberg admitted to the fear in 2020, but the revelation that she has her staff clear rooms and “secure” them before she enters them hit headlines earlier this month. Now, Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet says it has seen no less than 44 emails from Brandberg’s office, where her staff have written ahead of very high-profile meetings to prevent fruit-based gaffes.
Brandberg’s staff emailed EU summits, the Norwegian government, and the speaker of Sweden’s Parliament. Even the top of Swedish society is not immune, with an email making sure Brandberg wouldn’t be confronted with her fear for no less an occasion than dinner with the King.
These emails also reveal some oddly specific aspects of the phobia, including one venue that replied it had planned to serve part of a meal on banana leaves. On this occasion, the host was told this would be acceptable.
They also show that Brandberg’s staff used to explain away this urgent need as a serious allergy, however the minister herself has since admitted it is actually an emotional response, calling it “the world’s weirdest phobia”.
A spokesman for the minister revealed she has sought therapy for the issue but progress on that front has been slow. They said: “Paulina has met various therapists in periods over several years, but unfortunately she has not progressed as far as she wished. She has great confidence in the therapist she is now seeing. Her goal is for it to produce results so that her phobia will neither affect herself nor those around her in the future”.