Blog 3- Race & Political Engagement

Intersectionality, women and politics: What is the connection between the three?

Let’s face it- coming from certain subgroups means that there are going to be going to be challenges and limitations that you will face within the society. As cited by Crenshaw, she has stated that they are viewed as ‘negative frameworks in which social power works to exclude or marginalise those who are different’ (Crenshaw, 1991: 1242). Let me ask you something, if you were to belong in those certain subgroups and read the above quote, how would you that make you feel?

Before we dig deep into intersectionality and women, let’s introduce to ourselves as to what intersectionality is. This is coined as ‘the interconnected nature of social categorisations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage’ (Taylor, 2019). This demonstrates that coming from minority group, individuals are more likely to face discrimination and racism with ‘41% of ethnic minority background facing greater levels of discrimination’ (Waldersee, 2018). How does the intersectionality links to politics?

If we focus on politics and intersectionality, we can see that the number of people from ethnic minority joining Members of the House of Common in the 2019 General Election was 10% as compared to March 2020, in which only 6.3% of ethnic minority people were elected (Uberoi and Lees, 2020). All I can say that this HUGE gap between 2019 and 2020 and that something should be done to ensure that ethnic minority individuals are being REPRESENTED and feel VALUED!

From the graph above we can see that in 2015 there were slightly more ethnic minority males in the political position of being MPs, than ethnic minority females. However, in 2017 this raised the bar by little, as there were the same amount of ethnic minority female MPs, as there were ethnic minority male MPs. However, although the general election included 26 ethnic minority female MPs, this was just 4% of all MPs and 12.5% of all female MPs (House of Commons Library, 2017). This demonstrates that even though the number of ethnic minority females have improved by small numbers, there could still be some improvement made within the representation of ethnic minority females in politics. This is due inequality experienced by those in the intersections of different subgroups. This is due to ethnic minority women, black women specifically, may face “the intersectional experience of racism and sexism” (Crenshaw, 1997 cited in Michener et al, 2012:3). This proves my point that not only ethnic minorities experience racism, but women also face sexism.! How can minorities live in peace knowing that their voices aren’t expressed and their marginalised by others?

There are so many recommendations that can help reduce the barriers between ethnic minorities and society. First of all, society needs to recognise the problems and hardship (i.e., racism) that ethnic minorities experience. To overcome this, I suggest that citizens within political world need to be taught how important inclusivity is to the society and no-one should face barriers.

Let’s focus on women and their voices within the society. Women are also the important factor in this society, so why are they not taken seriously within political sectors? This is where the history of suffragettes and voting come in. Before suffragettes came into action, Victorian women felt excluded and alienated from the rest of the society in which Queen Victoria supported with her saying ‘Let women be what God intended, a helpmate for man, but with totally different duties and vocations’ (British Library, 2018). I know that if I was living in Victorian era I would have been offended to as I would have been using my voice for people to hear that women’s voices DO MATTER!

It’s not until suffragettes came along the way and joined force to fight for women’s voices to be heard. Emmeline Pankhurst set out this movement in 1880 and was also in charge of WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union) from 1903 until 1918 (British Library, 2018). In the early years of the movement, they had high hopes that governments and politics will listen to them carrying out: marches and petitions, having peaceful and hoping that parliaments would listen to them.

 

With suffragettes fighting for women’s right, there is no doubt that they were working hard for this, but at the end of the day- their voices were not heard and were pushed back the society. This results women to smash windows including West-End shops and government buildings during the year 1912 which showed their frustration and anger after their peaceful means were ignored and was not seen important.

At the end of the day, women STILL contribute towards the society and they should be viewed as vital individuals and should not be alienated and excluded from the rest!

Bibliography:

The British Library. 2019. The campaign for women’s suffrage: an introduction. [online] Available at: <https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/the-campaign-for-womens-suffrage-an-introduction> [Accessed 24 March 2021].

Crenshaw, K. (1991) Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review. 43(6) Pp. 1241-1300.

Michener, J., Dilts, A. & Cohen, C. (2012) African American Women: Intersectionality in Politics. The Oxford Handbook of African American Citizenship. Oxford University Press. Available at: http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195188059.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195188059-e-19 (Accessed 23 March 2021)

Taylor, B., 2019. Intersectionality 101: what is it and why is it important?. [online] Womankind Worldwide. Available at: <https://www.womankind.org.uk/intersectionality-101-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-important/> [Accessed 23 March 2021].

Uberoi, E. and Lees, R., 2020. Ethnic diversity in politics and public life. [online] House of Commons Library. Available at: <https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01156/> [Accessed 24 March 2021].

Waldersee, V., 2018. Who faces greater discrimination: ethnic minorities, or white people? | YouGov. [online] Yougov.co.uk. Available at: <https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2018/12/20/who-faces-greater-discrimination-ethnic-minorities> [Accessed 24 March 2021].