“The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.”  – Virginia Wolf

Theresa May, Angela   Merkel, Erna Solberg. All women, all holding the most prestige positon of their respected country. It has been a grind to reach this point and by no means was it merely handed to women. They have scratched and clawed for this. A little over 100 years since receiving the vote, it is not just some women who have the vote, but all women. As I type write this blog I can hear glass ceilings being shattered as women continue their progress made in a society that, previously, only offered them a modicum of respect. Remnants of this are misogynists trampling over the broken glass who quake at the realisation society is on a level playing field.

Or at least that is the narrative we are being told.

Firstly, it would be unjust of myself to fail to acknowledge the women whom paved the way. When we look at the ‘Mount Rushmore’ of women during the Suffragette movement, Fawcett, Pankhurst, and Davidson; they all made significant contributions for the empowerment of women. This culminated with the Representation of People’s Act 1918 whereby women were legally allowed to vote. Having called for change since mid-19^th century Britain which witnessed the first petition submitted to Parliament, calling for the female vote in 1866 from the National Union of Women’s Suffragette Societies and later spearheaded by Millicent Fawcett’s presidency in 1907, women finally gaining the right to vote was monumental. Fast forward to modern society and women have certainly took inspiration from the three aforementioned women. Their voting turnout is equal if not exceeding men, yet something does not quite feel right.

Fig.1.Voting turnout for men and women since 1964 (British election studies)

Aside from the fact that the suffragette movement was, by in large, a movement for white middle class women whom advocated conservative values that already existed in society, in today’s day and age there remains the lingering sentiment of women being underrepresented in politics.

Why?

Much of their political apathy, a sense of disinterest and disillusion towards the political climate, can be attributed to concerns similar to those of low socioeconomic status. The lack of initiative by schools to empower the next generation of women creates alienation in politics insofar that it reinforces diplomatic democracy whereby those who choose a career in politics are supported with a social and economic capital.

“Even though I went to an all-girls’ school, we didn’t have anything on the curriculum about politics,” she said. “Education from a young age is really important”

It’s like a carrot is dangled in front of women whereby they have been given the right to vote, but not the encouragement to pursue a career in politics, and quite frankly is disrespectful. Perhaps it is not my place to say what is keeping women away from politics and this candid remark may be one of the litany of reasons as to why this is the case, maybe it is because women simply do not want the position and the constant backlash they are doomed to face, cc Theresa May

 Fig.2. Percentage of women elected at General Elections have increased however it remains the overwhelming minority. (Women in Parliament and Government 2018)

Let’s make things clear, we’re not simply referring to their lack of representation in politics, this extends to employment pay too. There is no explanation but misogyny as to why they are not paid equally as men. In April 2018, in full-time work, men on average earn £14.81 compared to women at £13.54 which further underlines the discrepancy between genders as women are not seen as invaluable as men in the workplace (McGuinness and Pyper 2018). Explanations as to why this remains the case run thin. Is it because of education? No. Or maybe it’s because of the required skills? No. It is something of an indoctrination the belief that labour value is ‘influenced strongly by biased perceptions of individual qualities thought to be determined by gender’ (Cole 2017)Fig.3. In the last decade, women have continuously been underpaid compared to men (ONS 2017)

To add insult to injury, women constantly suffer from egregious experiences at work that exist separate from their pay; a survey conducted by the BBC (2017) for sexual harassment found that among over 2’000 British adults, 37% of all those asked, 53% of women said they had been subjected to sexual harassment, ranging from comments made towards them, to psychical experiences of sexual assault. Would it be morally wrong to say women are victims of their own success?

This all ties in with the lack of women in politics and who would blame them? They have suffered constant oppression both in pay and sexual harassment and with politics synonymous with distrust and exploitation, being in the public eye is not for everyone.

Hindsight is 20/20 and a little over 100 years on from the Representation of People’s Act 1918, the advances women have made in society should continue to be celebrated. But bare this in mind: women have not come this far just to come this far. They came this far…to go further.

 

Bibliography

BBC (2018) Ask Her to Stand: What’s stopping women becoming MPs? Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46294509. (Accessed 01/04/2019)

BBC (2017) ‘Half of women’ sexually harassed at work, says BBC survey. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41741615 (Accessed 02/04/2019)

Browning, S (2019) Women in Parliament and Government. Available at: https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN01250. (Accessed: 01/04/2019)

Cole, N (2019) Understanding the Gender Pay Gap and How It Affects Women. Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/pay-inequality-based-on-gender-3026092. (Accessed: 01/04/2019)

McGuiness, F and Pyper, D (2018) The Gender Pay Gap. Available at: researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN07068/SN07068.pdf. (Accessed: 02/04/2019)

Office for National Statistics (2017) Understanding the gender pay gap in the UK Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/understandingthegenderpaygapintheuk/2018-01-17 (Accessed: 05/04/2019)

Perez, M (2019) Women History Month 2019. Available at: https://www.newsweek.com/womens-history-month-empowering-quotes-inspiring-women-1348011. (Accessed: 09/04/2019)

Shorrocks, R. (2017) In what ways does gender matter for voting behaviour in GE2017? [blog] British Politics and Policy. Available at: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/gender-and-voting-behaviour-in-ge2017/  (Accessed: 03/04/2019)