What is this “Turn Ardern” movement all about then?

It was kickstarted by a 66-year-old Christchurch bricklayer and involves people turning over books and magazines featuring New Zealand’s prime minister on the cover so her face can’t be seen.

The movement’s leader, Colin Wilson, says the protest was peaceful and now has hundreds of followers who have filmed themselves “turning” Jacinda Ardern in grocery stores and bookshops, and posting their efforts on social media.

“People are sick and tired of all the fluff articles – people want a prime minister and not a fashion model,” Wilson told the New Zealand Herald. “A lot of us feel she spends a lot of time doing photo shoots instead of running the country.”

Wilson says the end-goal is to drag down magazine sales featuring Ardern, meaning she has more time for work such as fixing child poverty and the housing crisis.

Interesting logic. Is she really on a lot of magazine covers? And is that her fault?

Ardern has generated huge international interest and attention, and since her election in October 2017 she has been on the cover of British and American Vogue, the Australian Women’s Weekly, and dozens of other domestic and international magazines, not to mention multiple TV appearances.

A biography of the PM has also just been published, The Story Behind an Extraordinary Leader (unauthorised, the PM did not sit for an interview with the author), with a second biography due out early next year.

Ardern has become the most internationally recognised and well-known New Zealand prime minister ever. Her global fame is a new experience for Kiwis, not used to the international spotlight, and has made her an easy target for the opposition and detractors, who frequently accuse her of focusing more on international affairs than domestic ones.

Those poor shop workers who have to return the magazines to their rightful state – what do they say?

There are reports that the #TurnArdern campaign is causing extra work for book shop workers and low-wage employees in supermarkets and newsagents, and on social media some users have reported encounters with #TurnArdern protesters.

There has been a nasty backlash against #TurnArdern, too. Since the campaign leader’s identity emerged, he has received threats – including against his life – and been trolled and vilified online.

Simon Linch (@simonlinch) Team leader @Coltheman1, Timaru Z has been turned! #turnardern pic.twitter.com/TpASS5BxqJ

Is this a sexist thing or does Wilson have a point?

The author of the new Ardern biography, Michelle Duff, wrote in the Spinoff that the campaign is unequivocally sexist and another attempt to “silence women”.

“#TurnArdern is just another manifestation of this simmering hatred of women that lies just beneath the surface,” Duff wrote. “The fact that a group of men are so threatened by the image of a powerful woman that they can’t even bear to look at her face is not really all that funny.”

“Throughout history, attempts have been made to silence women. We’ve been drowned as witches, denied the vote, gaslighted in relationships, had our ideas stolen in meetings, had our voices and views disbelieved and minimised. We’ve been done to, not done by.”

Is there a “turn Ardern back again” movement?

There is, and the publicity has also boosted the sales of the new Ardern biography, which has spent seven weeks on New Zealand’s bestseller list. Under the hashtag #ReturnArdern, people have filmed themselves turning Ardern books and magazines the right way round again. Former PM Helen Clark tweeted that the #TurnArdern movement had been counterproductive and “spawned” the #ReturnArdern hashtag, which hints at a possible re-election slogan for the Labour party in eight months’ time.

Melanie D. (@melulater) I am fed up with you #turnardern dickheads. Don't you bloody do this in my supermarket. So I'm setting it to rights. #ReturnArdern in 2020 for #ProgressWithLabour #CoalitionForProgress pic.twitter.com/KQa3yihV3F

Amy finished the damn book (@AmyWasBlythe) Nothing else for it but to #turnardern, page by page, all afternoon, I suppose. pic.twitter.com/CE6SDLXkUy