It is clear that we live in a patriarchal society and there are inequalities within our society especially amongst men and women. Although there has been changes to ensure that all individuals are treated equally, gender inequality is still prominent in society today. In this blog, I will be discussing why there is a lack of representation of women in politics and also why there is a decline in the amount of women voting.
The suffragette movement began in 1832 as women campaigned and protested to have the right to vote and be engaged in politics. Women only gained the right to vote through the equal franchise act (1928), so as you can see the political system has been male dominated for a very long time and although there has been progress, it is still a very patriarchal system.
The connotations of a woman, makes it harder for a woman to succeed, Komath (2014) states 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. Many institutions in our society are male dominated and they have reinforced the idea that women are inferior which has made it harder for a woman to be an active participant in politics. In order, for a woman to become an active participant in politics, she has to secure the votes of those in her community which is a difficult task as she has to prove to the people of her community that she is capable.
Also, there is also more scrutiny amongst a woman’s personal life, an example of this is if a woman is unmarried but has an active sex life, she is labelled as promiscuous and that’s what she will continuously be identified as, Komath (2014). An example of this is Donald Trump’s wife, Melania Trump who used to work in the sex industry and is now the first lady. Although, she isn’t a part of the sex industry anymore, she is still identified as a promiscuous woman. The picture below demonstrates this:
So in order for a woman to be in political power, she has to fit the ideal standards of a ‘good-respectable woman’, such as be married, have children and have lived a very moral life.
Women are under-represented in politics, there 29% of women that are MPs in parliament and there are 71% of men who are MPs, Lowther and Thornton (2015). There has been growth in the amount of women in parliament but women are still underrepresented which has had an effect on women who get involved in voting. In 1992, 78.2% of women had voted which was higher than the amount of men who had voted which was 77.2%, but there has been a decline in the amount of people voting since 1992. Between 1992 and 2010, the amount of women voters has fell by 18%, Cohen (2015). A report from Hansard society, revealed that ‘a girl that is born today will be drawing her pension before she is equally represented in Westminster,’ Connelly (2015), this is quite a shocking statement as women have fought for equality for many years for them to still not be equal in all institutions.
Is it because Hilary Clinton is a woman that she didn’t win the elections to become president of United States? Does a woman in power challenge a man’s masculinity? A study conducted by mashable found that men who had female bosses acted more aggressively towards their female bosses and this was because they felt that their masculinity was challenged because they were answering to a woman, Lebowitz (2015). Could this be the same case for Hilary Clinton? The thought that the country will be controlled by a woman is quite a daunting thought to some men, Cosslett (2016) states that many Americans did not want a female president as many institutions are patriarchal especially religious institution’s, which believe that a woman should never be ‘the head’ of the family but the man is the head of the family. Functionalists obtain the same traditional views, they believe that in the family the male is the breadwinner and the female is the homemaker. So the thought that a woman is going to be in control of a country is against the traditional view of women which is still dominant in society today.
In order, for there to be more women taking part in politics, there needs to be more teachings and promoting of politics in educational institutions, shopping centres even youth clubs which will encourage young women to get involved in politics. Many women have the idea that politics is a ‘man’s job’ due to the lack of representation of women. This may dishearten the younger generation of women who are interested in politics as they will feel like they do not stand a chance in politics.
To conclude, it is unfortunate that women in society are still seen as inferior after the fight for equality and it is disheartening that a woman can be more intelligent and qualified than a male but because of her gender her chances are limited in politics. It is important that we continue to promote and fight for equality in all institution’s so that gender isn’t an obstacle.
Bibliography:
Cohen, C., 2015. Almost 100 years on from winning the vote, women shun the polling booths [WWW Document]. URL http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-politics/11333915/British-women-general-election-voters-shun-the-polling-booths.html (accessed 4.24.17).
Connelly, J., n.d. How can we better represent women in parliament? [WWW Document]. The Conversation. URL http://theconversation.com/how-can-we-better-represent-women-in-parliament-37787 (accessed 4.23.17).
DELUSIONALDon, 2017. Seriously, did #MelaniaTrump say she doesn’t want a bad name? She’s an adulteress Porn Star whore. U can’t get any lower #CNN #GOP #msnbc. @DelusionalDon1.
Lebowitz, S., n.d. 3 experiments suggest men are threatened by this type of boss [WWW Document]. Business Insider. URL http://uk.businessinsider.com/study-on-men-threatened-by-women-bosses-2015-7 (accessed 4.24.17).
Politics, iKNOW, 2014. The Patriarchal Barrier to Women in Politics [WWW Document]. International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics. URL http://iknowpolitics.org/en/knowledge-library/opinion-pieces/patriarchal-barrier-women-politics (accessed 4.23.17).
The long march to votes for women – suffragette timeline [WWW Document], 11:41. . The Telegraph. URL http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/suffragette/suffragette_timeline/ (accessed 4.23.17).
Thornton, E.L. and C., 2015. Election 2015: Number of women in Parliament rises by a third. BBC News.