women in the house
...ntieth century prime minister - eleven and a half years. A more recent example in 1997, was Baroness Valerie Amos, who made history in May as the first Black woman to serve in the British Cabinet (JET, June 2), made history again that year with her appointment as the first Black woman to head the House of Lords, the highest chamber in the British parliament. From the above facts, we can see that women’s representation in parliament has been strongly proved and it is undeniable that women indeed got their share in the population of members in Parliament. However, this doe not mean that, we can understand, that, women have as equal power as men do in today’s political society, they are still struggling for a higher status in a male-dominated parliament. Women who want to enter politics find that political, public cultural and social environment are often unfriendly or even hostile to them. This is not a local circumstance but universal one. Even a quick glance at the current composition of political decision-makings in any religion provides evidence that women still face numerous obstacles in articulating and shaping their own interests. The resources of obstacles are mainly from the following factors: 1. The political obstacles. Men dominate the political arena, men formulate the rules of the political game; and men define the standards for evaluation. The existence of this male-dominated model results in either women rejecting politics altogether or rejecting male-style politics. At the beginning of the 21st century over 95 per cent of all countries in the world women the two most fundamental democratic rights: the right to vote and the right to stand for elections. New Zealand was the first country to give women the right to vote in 1893; and Finland was the first to adopt both fundamental democratic rights in 1906. There are still a few countries that deny women both the right to vote and the right to stand for elections. In theory, the right to stand for elections, to become a candidate and to get elected, is based on the right to vote. The reality is, however, that women’s right to vote remains restricted: principally because the only candidates to vote for are mostly male. Political life is organized according to male norms and values and in some cases, even male lifestyles. For example, the political model is based on the idea of “winners and losers”, competition and confrontation, rather than on mutual respect. Under such environment, women always are alienated. 2. Socio-economic obstacles. Socio-economic conditions play a significant role in women’s legislative recruitment within both long-standing and new democracies. It goes without saying that the social and economic status of women in society has a direct influence on their participation in political institutions and elected bodies. A country’s state of development is an important condition for women’s representation in the parliament. Development leads to a weakening for traditional values, decreased fertility rates, increased urbanization, greater education and labor force participation for women and attitudes changes in perceptions regarding the appropriate role for women- all factors that increases women’s political resources and decrease existing barriers to political activity. 3. Ideological and psychological hindrances. First of foremost, is the traditional roles that women have been stereotyped. In many countries, traditions continue to emphasize and often dictate, women’s primary role as mothers and housewives. A traditional, strong, patriarchal value system has been embedded in the women’s ideology that women should only play the role of “working mother”, which is generally low-paid and apolitical. For example, as I am from China, I always heard people joking about women are apolitical, which is somewhat the point that I am emphasizing about. Often women internalize many of these ideas and end up feeling a sense of guilt when they can not correspond to this almost impossible image. This sense of guilt is tied to a sense of having to be for her womanhood. Besides, lack of confidence in themselves is one of the main reasons for women’s under-represented in formal political institutions, including parliaments, governments and political parties. Furthermore, in some countries, women perceive politics as a “dirty” game. In fact, such a perception is prevalent worldwide. Unfortunately, this perception reflects the reality in many countries and although the reasons for this differ, there are some common trends. At last, the mass media is a crucial role in the representing of women. The mass media deserves to be called the fourth branch of power because of its i...