GENDER ISSUES
IN POLITICS
GROUP 3
DEFINITION OF TERMS
GENDER
Gender- It is used to describe the characteristics of women and men
that are socially constructed.
POLITICS
Politics- the activities associated with the governance of a country
or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or
parties having or hoping to achieve power.
INTRODUCTION
In this introduction, we locate the gender and politics scholarship by
delineating its relationship to the discipline of political science as
it is conventionally understood and to politics as a practice.
But we argue that gender is centrally important to politics and that
inequalities are embedded in both the study and practice of politics.
We also show that many scholars, influenced by feminism in its various
different forms, see their work as challenging these inequalities and
use standard methods and approaches as well as those that are more
experimental or innovative.
INTRODUCTION
Introductory feminist texts used to say that gender was the
social meaning of sex. But feminists have increasingly come to
eschew such biological foundationalism and to agree that sex
itself is a social construct. In the contemporary world, we might
say that gender is a form of social organization that exalts the
masculine and denigrates and dismisses the feminine.
INTRODUCTION
Feminism is a concept that is in some ways even more fraught,
having clear connections to political action and actors and
serving as an ideal for many scholars and activists.
Feminism is at once a research agenda, a political program, and
an ideal. In some ways, we can say that it is a term that
potentially embraces all of the worlds women and men, so we
should not expect it to be simple to define or unidimensional in
its content.
GENDER ISSUES
IN POLITICS
GENDER ISSUES IN POLITICS
Even in democratic societies in which gender equality is legally
mandated, gender discrimination occurs in politics, both in
regards to presumptions about political allegiances that fall
along gender lines, and disparate gender representation within
representative democracies. Historically, this was even more true
when women were neither considered full citizens nor could not
vote.
GENDER ISSUES IN POLITICS
Before 1920, women did not have a national right to vote in the
United States. Women's suffrage, the movement to achieve the
female vote, was won gradually at state and local levels during
the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1920,
the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was
ratified, which provided: "The right of citizens of the United
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or by any State on account of sex."
GENDER ISSUES IN POLITICS
GENDER ISSUES IN POLITICS
Women in politics took center stage in the 2008 election. In the primary
season, New York Senator Hillary Clinton ran against future President
Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.
As such, remarks about her gender and appearance came to the fore.
Commentators noted that because she was a woman, Clinton had a sexual
power that would make her too intimidating to win the national election.
Comments about Clinton's body, cleavage, choice of pantsuit, and
speculation about cosmetic surgery popped up over airwaves.
GENDER ISSUES IN POLITICS
HILLARY CLINTON
Many wondered if the same fixation
on a candidate's body and style
would happen to a male candidate.
Although Clinton was the twenty-
fifth woman to run for U.S.
President, she was the first female
candidate to have a significant
chance of winning the nomination of
a major party and the general
election.
GENDER ISSUES IN POLITICS
GENDER ISSUES IN POLITICS
Institutional, socioeconomic and cultural barriers limit women’s
effective participation in democratic elections. Politics is often
viewed, by both men and women, as a male domain where women will
struggle to make a contribution. In addition, party politics tends
to be dominated by men, making it more difficult for women to get
on party lists for election. Women’s representation and leadership
therefore tend to be more at the grassroots level and in social
welfare positions.
EFFECTS OF GENDER ISSUES IN POLITICS
RECOMMENDATION
One of our recommendation for solving gender issues in
politics is implementing an electoral gender quota. This
means that major political parties will set a quota for their
own party in having a suitable female candidates. Reserved
seats is a good one too. It means appointing women to certain
government agencies by the prime-minister. An equal
distribution of men and women of the president's cabinet
members will be influential too in promoting gender equality
in politics.
CONCLUSION
After showing all of those evidences, we can’t deny that
gender inequality and issues is happening everywhere even in the
field of politics. Just like our previous example about the
presidential elections in the United States of America, it shows
that the people are discriminating and stereotyping women’s just
because of their gender. And to solve and address this problem, we
need to accept the fact that gender doesn't define your abilities
and capabilities as a person. Everybody has the right to present
themselves without being criticized or discriminated by others.
REFERENCES
https://gsdrc.org/topic-guides/gender/gender-and-governance/?
fbclid=IwAR1zbfIAyMSGFta9jU4MvGvG5YP0OZN7D3DUD6--qBveIYTcOVyHVc-Q7Bw
https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199751457.0
01.0001/oxfordhb-9780199751457-e-34
https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199751457.0
01.0001/oxfordhb-9780199751457-part-1
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Par
liamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1314/ElectoralQuotas#_Toc372193121
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/09/closing-the-political-gender-
gap
GROUP 3
thank you!
