What is it about gender, and how is your political behaviour affected by it?

 

It is finally time to stop turning a blind eye to the gender inequality faced by politically involved women?

 

 

The field of gender is constantly shaped by experiences, especially those which are institutional. Ongoing studies concerning political involvement in relation to gender continuously suggest that, as most other institutions, global democratic establishments are indeed gendered. These concepts are backed up by varying gender gaps in different nations, with similarities in trends respecting gender in politics. Arguably, this all begins with under-representation. Is it time that this is acknowledged entirely by political members of society?

 

According to the United Nations, there is a certain criterion as to which institutions, as well as society, should adhere to- not only accommodate, but to ensure gender equality is being pursued and respected, in order to achieve the final outcome of universal acceptability, accountability and coherent beliefs regarding inequality. Notable affirmations relevant to the province of politics concerning sexism include, “Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.” The UN have appended further examples to this statement, specifying that “Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large” (Nations, 2022), with the intention to expedite and incite change.

 

This article will entail details of political behaviours and patterns, with an objective, binary approach to the subject of gender; purely looking at differences and similarities amongst men and women’s participation, later expanding on the outlook when discussing intersectionality. The voting rates of men and women have seemingly levelled out in recent years, despite remaining differences in political activity between the genders. It is so easy- almost too easy, to dismiss the changes that had to take place in the past in the interests of gaining equality for women, particularly in terms of democratic, political freedom and rights. When it comes to the topic of political involvement in relation to gender, women seem to remain underrepresented; in voting polls, in forms of activism, such as, protests, and in parliament (Browning, 2019), despite making up 51% of the UK gender demographic, according to the 2011 census.

 

Although many feminists and indeed, people, may find this catastrophising, not to worry! There is change constantly happening, as a society, we continue to break down barriers and progress, especially in terms of equality. This is certainly demonstrated in the graph below; where it is shown that from the year women were able to vote till 1997- almost 80 years, no more than 10% of parliamentary seats were taken by women. This has since changed, as seen in 2017, where 32% of seats were obtained by women in the General Election. We must, of course, appreciate that we have still not fully evolved into an ‘equal society’, however, whilst also appreciating that we are taking steps into the right direction.

 

Source A. Percentage of Female MPs Elected in UK General Elections 1918-2017 (Source: House of                                                                                Commons Briefing Paper SN01250).

 

 

But how does this all tie together with representation? Well, as has been established by countless sociologists, representation is a vital aspect of life; people need to see others who are similar to themselves in forms of media in order to feel included in society and reinforce positive views of themselves. Since this is a vital aspect of life as far as sociological theory is concerned, surely the ability for an MP to advocate and support those who they are representing is just as vital. This is referred to as substantive representation, where an MP’s ability to influence the people who feel represented by them is alluded to (Sawer, 2012).

 

There is a slight issue which arises with ideas such as that of Sawyers. Since there aren’t many parliamentary seats occupied or held by female MPs, it becomes significantly harder to make women feel truly represented (Pyeatt & Yanus, 2017). Now, no matter what one’s stance is on political issues such as abortion laws, contraceptives and tampon tax, it can certainly be agreed people need to feel represented and heard.

 

In many ways the number of women who are indeed elected as representatives in politics are very much boosted by gender quotas, whereby the playing field is somewhat levelled out, so female politicians are awarded better opportunities to obtain certain positions (Krook & Zetterberg, 2014).

 

Although this is greatly positive, there are issues and arguments that arise from it. Feminists argue that a diversity quota can actually be considered insulting due to the insinuation that a female politician couldn’t achieve the same goals as their male counterparts without it. Another argument often presented which opposes gender quotas in politics is that of Murrays, where he suggested quotas would lead to women being elected simply based on their gender, rather than for their merit (Murray, 2019). However, it has been proved through studies that women elected through quotas generally either match or top the qualifications of their non-quota equivalents (Krook & Zetterberg, 2014).

 

On reflection, there are so many positives when considering gender and political involvement in the UK. Unfortunately, it must be specified that this is solely in respects to the United Kingdom- there are yet many places where women are not granted the same rights or opportunities as men, particularly in politics.

 

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are still many points of correction regarding gender inequality in politics, but these can certainly be corrected in time with measures in place such as diversity quotas and the acknowledgement of the importance of representation for women who may take an interest in politics, in this case. Ultimately, this will lead to everyone, regardless of their gender identity, feeling more comfortable and assured, and therefore more politically aware and involved.

 

 

 

 

Bibliography:

 

 

Nations, U., 2022. Gender Equality | United Nations. [online] United Nations. Available at: <https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/page/gender-equality> [Accessed 13 February 2022].

 

 

Browning, S. (2019). Women in Parliament and Government. [online] Researchbriefings.parliament.uk. Available at: https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN01250 [Accessed 15 February 2022].

 

 

Sawer, M. (2012). What makes the substantive representation of women possible in a Westminster parliament? The story of RU486 in Australia. International Political Science Review, 33(3), pp.320-335.

 

 

Pyeatt, N. and Yanus, A. (2017). Increasing Women’s Political Participation: The Role of Women-Friendly Districts. Representation, 53(3-4), pp.185-199.

 

 

Murray, R. (2019). Merit vs Equality? The argument that gender quotas violate meritocracy is based on fallacies | British Politics and Policy at LSE. [online] Blogs.lse.ac.uk. Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/merit-vs-equality-argument/ [Accessed 15 February 2022].

 

 

Krook, M. and Zetterberg, P. (2014). INTRODUCTION: GENDER QUOTAS AND WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION—NEW DIRECTIONS IN RESEARCH. Representation, 50(3), pp.287-294.