In my final blog, I will be discussing the topic of the gender differences in politics, but specifically looking at women’s role in the UK’s political system. I want to look at the past and how women were treated to compare it to recent times, I also want to find out what factors were to blame for women’s misrepresentation in politics. This will help me figure out what effect this has on the women of society.
Fig.1 shows the women present in Parliament and the elected bodies by party.
In the current government, it can be argued that women are still misrepresented especially when you consider that they contribute to half of the population in the UK. The political studies association (2015) found that women are less than a third of MPs that consist of the UK Parliament. Fig.1 shows a more in-depth argument of the misrepresentation of women with the current government in power being the Conservative party, but when you look at their stats, it shows that in the House of Commons and House of Lords, the two most prestigious positions in parliament, that women only make up 21% and 25% of the two groups respectively. Seeing information like that, it could be argued that decisions made that solely effect a Woman’s life is not being made with Women’s best interests, so it still seems that women are still not being included inside the political sphere of influence. Now that comes across as problematic when there are no limitations regarding what profession a woman may choose but within politics, it is still attempting to be exclusive to males. (Phillips, 1998). But, we are living in a society which has shown so much improvements in terms of gender equality, the question comes to mind, why are women still misrepresented in politics in the UK?
Komath (2014) gives an explanation which could suggest why women are so misrepresented in politics, he says “that that in society women are labelled as weak and are incapable of making smart decisions which is why we do not see many women in power as they are viewed as less incompetent and less intelligent”. So, the connotations that are associated with a woman could easily make it difficult for a woman to go far in the world of politics. With these negatives stigmas attached to the figure of a woman, this leads to “female potential candidates being less competitive, less confident, and more risk averse than their male counterparts”, that was a point brought up by Danielle Kurtzleben (2016). As a male, I cannot understand what it may be like as a woman to have intentions to join the world of politics but Kurtzleben’s comments give me insight into the mind of female and it may deter them from embarking into a career of politics. Chemaly (2012) believes that with women not being properly represented can affect many aspects of politics, from the bills that are created to how funding is allocated. This misrepresentation means that women’s actual issues and views are not being considered.
What can be done about this? To answer this question you have to look at ways we can encourage women to get involved with politics, Sloane (2014) believes this can be done by making women politicians and experts more visible. With males still dominating the public face of politics, implementing more women in media obligations, pop ups etc… would help with building a more female friendly image for politics. With this age of technology we find ourselves living in, there is definitely something that could be done in regards to making female MPs more accessible to the wider public. By giving the public more access to female politics, the increase in interest would be sure to rise. This would mean younger females deciding to consider the world of politics as a viable career path rather than seeing the career as a path that is better avoided.
Fig.2 picture of current MPs in the house of commons.
To conclude, there will continue to be an abundance of future female MPs if in the current times there is not enough female representation present. This is because there would be no motivation or incentive for a female to believe that the life of politics is a life for her to live, so therefore, action needs to be taken in order for the number of women choosing politics as a career to rise. Men continuing to dominate politics will not only lead to the ignoring of female needs, but their views will not be heard by the people who need to hear it. However, with more inclusion and representation, a career in politics becomes more viable as it would show that it is an equal field to compete in.
References:
Chemaly, S. (2012). Women in Politics: Why We Need More Women in Office. Available: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/women-in-politics_b_1307586.html.
Komath, A. (2014). iKNOW, 2014. The Patriarchal Barrier to Women in Politics [WWW Document]. International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics. http://iknowpolitics.org/en/knowledge-library/opinion-pieces/patriarchal-barrier-women-politics
Kurtzleben, D. (2016). Almost 1 in 5 Congress Members Are Women. Here’s How Other Jobs Compare. Available: http://www.npr.org/2016/06/11/481424890/even-with-a-female-presumptive-nominee-women-are-underrepresented-in-politics.
Phillips, A. (1998). Introduction. In: Phillips, A Feminism and Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1.
Political Studies Association. (2015). Why Aren’t There More Women in British Politics? Available: https://www.psa.ac.uk/insight-plus/why-arent-there-more-women-british-politics.
Sloane, N. (2014). We need more women in politics – here’s how to do it. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/29/five-ways-more-women-uk-politics. Last accessed 4th April 2017.