For today’s blog, I am going to be talking about gender differences in politics, more specifically, women’s role in our political system. I will be looking at how women are represented in politics in the UK, why they are represented the way that they are and the effect that this can have on the electorate.

In the UK, women account for almost half of the population, but are represented in the Houses of Parliament by only a third (Political Studies Association, 2015). If we look at Fig. 1, of the three main parties, Labour has the largest number of female MPs, with forty-three-percent of their seats being held by women (Political Studies Association, 2015). Only twenty-one-percent of Conservative seats are held by women but no seats are held by women in the Liberal Democrat party (Political Studies Association, 2015). Overall, this means that women are not represented proportionally to the electorate in the Houses of Parliament. Women are still being left out of the political sphere, both professionally and ideologically. This seems strange when we consider the vast improvements in gender equality over the past century. Women are now able to be a part of whichever profession they choose, but it would appear that politics is still fighting to be exclusively male (Phillips, 1998). Now, you might argue that, for women, things are far better politically than they have ever been. Compared to just one-hundred-years ago, women can now vote, stand for election and sit in the House of Lords.

As previously mentioned, women are grossly underrepresented in politics. One explanation for the lack of women in politics is that it is not a family friendly environment (Kurtzleben, 2016). Women are still more likely to be taking care of children and undertaking domestic tasks than men (Shruti et al, 2014). Politics at any level can be incredibly time consuming but especially being an MP. No matter where an MP is based, they still have to come to Westminster often. This means that child care and domestic tasks become very difficult to fit in or be a part of, making it harder for women to juggle their political career with motherhood. Not all women have or want children, but are still being excluded from taking up a career in politics. Many argue that our society is still inherently sexist and sees women as unfit to be in charge of a constituency or, god forbid, an entire country (Collington, 2014). This was illustrated during the 2016 US elections, when many people chose not to vote for Hilary Clinton, because they were not ‘ready’ to see a woman sitting in the Oval Office (Bush, 2016). Many people still do not view women as politically able. There is a feeling amongst many trying to establish themselves in politics that it acts like an ‘old boy’s network’, where it’s more about who you know than what you know (Collington, 2014). For example, both the ex-Prime Minister David Cameron and ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbourne were both members of the notorious Bullingdon Club, an all-male students club at the University of Oxford. This makes it very hard for women to get into politics as they are excluded even before they begin.

What does this mean for women both inside and outside of the political sphere? Well firstly, it means that women are not proportionally represented, which can lead to their issues and views being ignored. This can affect many aspects of politics, from the bills that are introduced to where funding is allocated (Chemaly, 2012). Another effect that this has is that women are not able to see themselves as politicians. Young girls can see themselves in all sorts of professions that women are a part of, except politics. And even when women are represented in politics, they are shown in a very stereotypical and sexist manner. It is easy to find information on Theresa May’s fashion sense (Telegraph Fashion, 2017) but far harder to find out what David Cameron wore to his latest lobbying position (Pickard, 2017). This means that women are being shown that their contribution to politics will always be overshadowed by their appearance.

How can we fix this? Political parties have introduced all women short lists for elections, helping women enter politics (Kelly & White, 2016). It could also be made easier to work as an MP (Sloane, 2014). Perhaps there could be regional constituency meetings that are easier for MPs to get to. For example, all MPs for the South East could meet in one place. Technology could be better used to make meetings accessible online. These changes could make being an MP more of a family friendly job. The media could also stop presenting female politicians in the current manner and focus more on their political activities rather than if their shoes match their outfit properly, as one is far more important to the running of our country than the other!

To summarise, women are still being left out of the political sphere for many reasons. The effects of this lead to women consistently being excluded from politics which results in a never-ending cycle of poor representation. In order for our government to better represent our electorate, action needs to be taken to increase the number of women in politics. This would hopefully show women of all ages that their sex should not be a reason to be held back from achieving their goals.

 

References –

Bush, D. (2016). The hidden sexism that could sway the election. Available: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/features/hidden-sexism/. Last accessed 3rd April 2017.

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. Last accessed 3rd April 2017.

Collington, R. (2014). Why are so few MPs women? Labour’s female frontbench cannot hide the bigger inequality problem. Available: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/why-are-so-few-mps-women-labours-female-frontbench-cannot-hide-the-bigger-problem-9109888.html. Last accessed 3rd April 2017.

Kelly, R., White, I. (2016). All Women Shortlists. House of Commons Library. 5057. Available: http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN05057#fullreport. Last accessed 4th April 2017.

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. Last accessed 3rd April 2017.

Phillips, A. (1998). Introduction. In: Phillips, A Feminism and Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1.

Pickard, J. (2017). David Cameron ‘lobbied on behalf of Uber’ in London. Available: https://www.ft.com/content/3c5ebc20-1300-11e7-80f4-13e067d5072c. Last accessed 4th April 2017.

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. Last accessed 3rd April 2017.

Shruti, J., Kent, G., DeCastro, R., Stewart, A., Ubel, P., Jagsi, R.. (2014). Gender Differences in Time Spent on Parenting and Domestic Responsibilities by High-Achieving Young Physician-Researchers. Annals of Internal Medicine. 160 (5), 344-354.

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.

Telegraph Fashion. (2017). As Theresa May poses for American Vogue, see how the Prime Minister dresses for the biggest job in politics. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people/theresa-may-style-fashion/. Last accessed 4th April 2017.