The field of politics plays a very vital role in the provision of people’s leaders in any nation. All the nations of the world are governed by political leaders who are elected after a stipulated period of time as per the constitutions of those nations. Unfortunately, this field of politics has not been fair to the female gender when it comes to leadership positions. The world has witnessed a male dominated political field with women representation being as low as 3.1% (Koch-Mehrin, 2018, n.p). Global women’s revolution to call for participation in the politics has been witnessed especially in the last two decades. This push by women has seen a remarkable women representation in politics globally. Women are faced by numerous barriers in claiming leadership roles through politics and these barriers need to be addressed and re-checked to give way for women to participate fully in politics and leadership roles. This essay will discuss the barriers women face while engaging in politics, how those barriers can be done away with based on the following concepts; gender gap, gender stereotypes, public sphere/gender sphere, structural barriers and female representation.
Gender Gap
The gender gap in politics and leadership ranks is still imbalanced globally. Women are believed to be better in tabling social issues like reproductive rights, children’s rights and parental leave issues as well as poverty eradication and safe child delivery for women (Mlambo-Ngcuka 2018, n.p). Despite this fact, there is still a big gender gap for women in politics. The world has just witnessed a 23.5% as women parliamentarians and a 6% as head of states and head of governments (Mlambo-Ngcuka 2018, n.p). The main reason for this gap has been associated with women discrimination and violence. There are countries which still pass laws that discriminate against women, especially the Asian nations where women are firmly tied to the domestic chores (Mlambo-Ngcuka 2018, n.p). The issue of gender gap in politics can be addressed through legislating laws which in-cooperate women inclusivity in politics. Awareness should also be created to encourage women to participate in politics and compete equally with men like in the case of Hillary Clinton who has come out to contest firmly for the US top seat (Murse 2019, n.p). Hillary Clinton has clearly come out to show the world that women can pose a great challenge to men in the political arena by contesting for the US presidency against the current US president, Donald Trump.
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Gender Stereotypes
Gender stereotypes refer to a situation whereby females and males are accorded roles and responsibilities according to their gender. This idea in most cases undermines one’s talents and abilities as well as educational and life opportunities. Women in most cases are the most affected when it comes to politics. Women are generally seen as incapable beings, which explain why most leadership roles are accorded to men (Bauer 2013, 22-42). Gender stereotyping towards women generally explains why the world has witnessed minimal women participation in politics. For instance, in the US, it’s over 100 years since women started participating in elections yet the state has never witnessed a female president (Brechenmacher 2018, n.p). This scenario is attributed to the belief among the US citizens that women are incapable of leading men and also the idea that they are incapacitated when it comes to decision making.
Public Sphere/Gender Sphere
Public sphere and gender sphere in politics refer to open forums where citizens are free to air their opinions on issues affecting them and the country at large. Public sphere in cooperates both gender while gender sphere handles each gender separately. These forums are the right platforms for citizen to suggest how the government should be run. Unfortunately, the public sphere is largely dominated by the male gender, which greatly overshadows the female gender voice (Celis et al. 2013, n.p). This has greatly minimized women participation in these open forums and where key decisions regarding governance are made. A greater percentage of issues which are debated during these meetings definitely lean more on the male side since female representation is low. Matters which affect women like domestic issues, equal payment in the job market and their maternal rights among others are never brought to board. Thus, women remain undermined at all levels of life. This explains why the US as a country has witnessed low women representation in government offices as well as other lower offices. The issue of women participation in debates leading to making important governance decisions should be put into consideration. Women should be given an equal opportunity as men to air their views and shed light on matters which mostly affect them. Clear follow ups should be made to ensure that these feminine issues are settled to enhance gender equality in the society.
Structural Barriers
Structural barriers with regard to women and politics generally refer to those hindrances or stumbling blocks that women have to defeat in order to assume those top leadership positions dominated by men. There are several structural barriers which are holding women back from realizing their full potential in politics. One of the structural barriers is lack of quotas (Alexander 2012, n.p). Women lack enough support from the society especially when it comes to democratic elections. Most voters tend to put their trust in male candidates than the females ones. For example, despite the fact that Hillary Clinton was more known to Americans than Trump, he still managed to triumph over her simply because most of the voters could not trust her for America’s presidency. Another structural barrier to women in politics is family work and time constraints (Alexander 2012, n.p). Most domestic chores have been left to women, ranging from taking care of the kids, washing and cooking among others. These house chores greatly limit their time for full participation in politics. Structural barriers in politics with regard to women can be well addressed through ensuring gender equality and strictly adhered to. Women should be given equal opportunities to fully participate in leadership roles like men.
Female Representation
Female representation in politics and leadership roles is still far way below the United Nation’s standard which is 30%. United States of America is one of the most affected nations in the western globe (Pyeatt & Yanus 2018, 185-199). It is over a century now since the US fully allowed women to start participating in politics but despite this the country has never had a female president. Women in government offices are also very few compared to their big number in population. Over 90% of all government seats go to men in every election. Despite the awareness by different United Nations summits on women to come out and challenge men in politics, the turnout has still remained low. Female representation is also low globally; women have not clearly come out to claim leadership roles in the society. As a result, issues affecting the females have not been dealt with appropriately. This issue of female representation can be well dealt with through allocating specials positions in the government for women. These positions should be contested for by the women only and no male counterparts should interfere with them. This is the first and most important step to ending the issue of low female representation in matters to do with politics.
Bibliography
Alexander, A 2012 “Change In Women’s Descriptive Representation And The Belief In Women’s Ability To Govern: A Virtuous Cycle,” Politics & Gender Journal 8; 437-464.
Bauer, N 2013, Rethinking Stereotype Reliance. Understanding The Connection Between Female Candidates And Gender Stereotypes. 32(1): 22-42
Koch-Mehrin, S 2018, Why a Woman’s Place Is in Politics (Online). Retrieved from https://womendeliver.org/2018/womans-place-politics/
Mlambo-Ngcuka, P 2018, Op-Ed: Closing the Gender Gap in Politics (Online). Retrieved from https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/4/op-ed-ed-phumzile-closing-the-gender-gap-in-politics
Murse, T 2019, Hillary Clinton Bio (Online). Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/hillary-clinton-profile-3984058
Yanus, A & Pyeatt, N 2018, Increasing Women’s Political Participation: The Role of Women-Friendly Districts, 185-199
