Factors That Constrain Women from Participating in Political Arena - Essay Example

FACTORS THAT CONSTRAIN WOMEN FROM PARTICIPATING IN POLITICAL ARENA Name Institution Course Date Factors that constrain women from participating in political arena 1.0 Introduction Even though there are considerable developments in education and political participation I the 21st century, women remain under-represented in leadership positions in socio-politic levels across the world. Women hold less than 20% of parliamentary positions all over the globe. The aspects that hinder women from participating fully in politics depend on the level of socio-economic progress, culture, and geography in addition to the type of political system (Krook, 2007). More than 50% of the globe’s populace is women. Women contribute more than men to the development of society and economy of the society due to their twofold responsibilities in reproduction and production fields. Yet their involvement in official political arena, where resolutions concerning the utilization of societal wealth produced by men and women are made, remains irrelevant. This is so irrespective of the evident devotion of the global society to gender impartiality and to bringing the gap in the official political area, reinforced by the ‘Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)’ and the Beijing Platform of Action (UNDP Report 2005). The segregation of women from administrative federations lowers the probability of establishing the values of social equality in a community. This paper discusses the factors that hinder women from participating in political arena in India and Japan. 2.0 Factors hindering women from participating in formal political arena Both Japan and India have had a remarkable economic progress coupled with quick development I recent decades, but gender inequality remains deep-rooted even through this age of change. Even though there is evidence of economic prosperity, educational achievements and availability of good healthcare in the two countries, gender gaps have not been closed. Women’s involvement as well as access to formal political power structures varies between the two countries. Furthermore, the two countries have experienced divergent trends towards gender equality. While Japan has made considerable advances, India progress on several counts has been slow. Nevertheless, women in both counties have continued to face discrimination in jobs, inequality in power, voice and political representation. The factors that hinder women from participating in formal political roles can be categorized into three major groups: political, socio-economic and ideological as well as psychological (socio-cultural) factors (Costantini, 1990). 2.1 Ideological and psychological hindrances 2.1.1 Traditional roles The politics of the two countries is dominated by patriarchy system where masculine dominance influences women’s connection in political affairs. This system changes masculine and female into men and women and forms a pecking order of gender relationships where men are favoured (Eisenstein 1984). According to Andrienne Rich the term patriarchy can be defined as “a familial-social, ideological, political system in which men by force, direct pressure or through ritual, law, ad language, customs etiquette, education, and the division of labour, determine what part women shall or shall not play in which the female is everywhere subsumed under the male” (Rich 1977, p.57). The gender responsibility creed has been utilized as an ideological instrument by patriarchy to position women within the private sphere of abode as mothers and wives and men in the public sphere. This is one of the key aspects that define the level of women’s political involvement in the two countries. The domestic domain is viewed as the rightful position for women in these countries while men are left to play their role in public domain. This ideological factor hinders women from actively engaging themselves in the politics (Pande, 2003). There are several gender customs and stereotypes, like that the main responsibility of women is to look after the kids along with family, and that women are not able to handle public dealings fully, which negatively impact community views and feelings being in opposition to women’s participation in politics and leadership. Furthermore, such traditional ideas and norms have been deeply rooted into both men’s and women’s mind since childhood and they have been a hindrance to women’s vigorous plans in intensifying their representation in political and managerial associations. They also make men who dominate political parties not to be committed in advancing gender-related policies (Haque, 2003). 2.1.2 Lack of confidence Not having self-confidence is among the main factors that hinder women from participating fully in the formal political arena. The two countries have witnessed women with confidence and courage rise to high levels of leadership in parliaments, ministries as well as in political parties. Women are good campaigners, support-mobilizers and organizers and have a great potential if only they take courage (UNESCAP). 2.1.3 The perception of politics as a ‘dirty’ game In most cases when there are elections, there are usually cases of rigging and campaigns full of blame-shifting as well as jeering words. This makes most women to view political affairs as a grimy game. This has lowered their self-belief in their capability to get involved in political processes. This type of perception is not only found in these two countries but it is all over worldwide. With the rise of costs of election campaigns, campaigners tend to use any money available and hence become corrupt. This makes the whole electoral system to be viewed as dirty in the eyes of many women. There also instances where campaigners use money to bribe and extort voters with an aim of gaining popularity. Bribery is entrenched in the electoral systems by a number of parties who keep on paying bribes. Bribery definitely leads to the formation of favourable environment and chances for the continuation of the most unconstructive demonstration of well thought-out crime. These aspects combined frighten women away from politics and aggravate their worries of losing members of their families (Matland, 2002). 2.1.4 The role of Mass Media In every society, media has two major roles namely: chronicling the current events and informing about public opinion and hence promoting varying viewpoints. In most cases the mass media does not concentrate much on actions and associations of importance to women. The media also doesn’t satisfactorily enlighten the citizens concerning the civil rights and responsibilities of women to the public and they also do not take part as needed in promoting the position of women in society. Yet women are the first people to be distressed by social, political and financial amendments as well as transformations happening in any country (Niederle, & Vesterlund, 2007). The media platform has also been used to promote gender biases and cultivate stereotype concerning ‘a place of woman’ assisting conservative governments and societies to hold responsible women for the collapse of family guiding principle. Media also displays woman as a beautiful object and identifies her according to her sex and pleasant appearance, which relates to woman’s physical capabilities and not her mental abilities. Thus the media in these countries needs to do accurate reporting of women’s concerns and activities of women leaders and hence contribute to the public awareness about them (UNESCAP). 2.2 Political hindrances There are also political constraints. Although the two countries have put in place female-friendly electoral systems like introduction of quotas, reserved seats as well as large multi-member districts that raise the number of women in leadership positions, the politics in the two countries is still a male dominated model. Men still take up a lion’s share in the political arena, devise the regulations of the game, and describe the benchmark for assessment. There are still structural or unofficial hindrances within a majority of political parties that do not support women to go past certain predetermined levels in leadership (Frechette, Maniquet, & Morelli, 2008). The masculine systems of political affairs, political parties as well as traditions of formal political structures are a great hindrance to women’s political involvement. Over and over again manly subjugated political parties have a male perception on matters of national significance that disenchants women as their viewpoint is frequently uncared for and not reflected in the political affairs of their parties. Furthermore, women are rarely elected in senior positions within party structures due to gender biases from male leaders. Most often in India, council meetings are held in odd hours when women are busy with domestic cores and so they cannot attend (Wilma 1987). The nature of politics in these countries also limits women from actively participating in politics. The two countries view politics as an action, a cognisant, and purposeful involvement in the procedure by which wealth is shared among people. This viewpoint of politics limits political affairs only in public sphere and the private arena of family life are portrayed as apolitical. “This public-private dichotomy in customary meaning of politics is used to eliminate women from public political arena and even when women are engaged in politics, they only do so as wives and mothers” (Jones, 2009 p. 42). Furthermore, women lack party support such as inadequate monetary support for female contenders, restricted access to political systems as well as more strict qualifications and standards applied to women. Women also lack support and cooperation from other public organizations like trade unions as well as women’s groups. A majority of women are also constrained from participating in formal political arena due to lack of modern and quality education and training systems for leadership apart from lack of exposure to political life (Khofifah 2002). 2.3 Socio-cultural/ socio-economic constraints Socio-economic factors play a considerable role in the recruitment of women to leadership. The financial as social status of women in a community have an impact on their involvement in political organizations as well as voted bodies (Clark, & Clark, 2000). 2.3.1 The feminization of poverty and unemployment Even though there has been an increase in the number of women employed in the labour force, most of the financial benefits resulting from women are at risk of being eroded. In the two countries, women’s amateur work activities amount to two times that of males. But unlike Japan, the economic crisis in India that has developing democratic systems has increased the threat of poverty for women, which, similar to joblessness, is prone to be feminized. Women contribute more to the growth of national economy of any country through both their unpaid and their paid labour. Thus women’s input as well as their position as major voters ought not to be ignored (Edlund, & Pande, 2002). Even though the significance of women’s biological and social responsibilities are well understood, their impact in governance and leadership has not been tapped well. Empowering women to participate in politics will help in eradicating poverty, especially in the country of India. Also empowering women, educating them and also equipping them with information will remove women from the restrictions of domestic to full involvement in political affairs and political elections (Randall, 1987). There is a general perception worldwide that women are subordinate to men. The gender role ideology forms the duality of femininity and masculinity in addition to putting them in hierarchal manner where by the female gender is normally regarded as lesser to male sex due to their socially attributed reproductive roles. The socio-cultural dependence of women is a major factor negatively affecting their political involvement in public political domain. Furthermore, women encounter cultural constrictions on their mobility. The systems of sex isolation and purdah are used to restrict their mobility (Tinker, 2004). 2.3.2 The dual burden In both countries, women are burdened by top-heavy portion of domestic cores. They have very limited time available due to their twofold responsibilities in reproductive and productive fields. With their major function as wives and mothers together with challenging domestic cores along with care tasks, they have little time left for politics. It is therefore not possible for women to be fully involved in politics when their major concern is survival ad they spend most of their time trying to meet the demands of families. This problem is heightened by the rise of the number of families that are headed by females, especially in India, where this partly contribute to the ongoing conflicts. For those who are educated, most of them have full-time careers, such as lawyers, or doctors apart from being mothers and wives, and engaging in politics will then be taking on a third full time job. 2.3.3 Education and training Most of candidature appointment measures call for certain levels of education. This hinders women from registering as contenders for selection. Apart from normal education, women do not have the political training needed to take part efficiently in political arena (UNPF, 2000). 3.0 Conclusion We have witnessed women attaining their political, social and economic rights as the rose into leadership in the last century. These achievements have led to significant changes in women’s lives. However, women are still facing discrimination in many fields (Eagly, & Caril, 2003). Women have ushered in the 21st century with both old and new challenges, especially intra and interstate differences along with violence (Iyer, Mani, Mishra, & Topalova, 2010). Even though the two countries have removed the legal barriers to women’s political involvement, their governments remain largely male-dominated. Helpful action strategies need to be implemented to ensure representation that exhibits the full multiplicity of humanity that aims to attain a legislative body that is gender-balanced. Moreover, women must lead the process of organizing and mobilizing their networks (Chattopadhyay, et al. 2009). They need to learn how to express their interests and communicate them to their male counterparts and various associations, and advocate for systems that facilitate their representation (Karl, 1995). 4.0 References: Chattopadhyay, R., Duflo, E., Pande, R., & Topalova, P. (2009). Powerful Women: Does Exposure Reduce Bias? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124(4). Clark, J. & Clark, C. (2000). The Reserved Seats System in Taiwan. Pp. 61-76 in Democracy and the Status of Women in East Asia, eds. Rose J. Lee and Cal Clark. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner. Costantini, E. (1990). Political Women and Political Ambition: Closing the Gender Gap. American Journal of Political Science, 34: 741-770. Eagly, A. & Caril, L. (2003). The Female Leadership Advantage: An Evaluation of the Evidence. The Leadership Quarterly, 14(6): 807-834. Edlund, L. & Pande, R. (2002). 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