Drude Dahlerup As A Critical Mass Theory

Australian society had changed a lot because of the women’s movement. Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s and the start of the ‘90s a lot of women were put into male jobs. These jobs were in the areas of education, law, health work, and welfare. This greatly affected the imbalance between both men and women in power and opportunity. Women gradually started to gain access to areas of power that previously been off limits. Some women attempted to use their new found power for the benefit of women in

Allowing women to vote, wage increases, employment and parental leave have been major winning battles for women in Australia and all around the world, but the fights not over yet. Equal representation in politics is a new critical battle that must be tackled head on. It is essential for women to be able to express their opinions on the political course of Australia.

Overall, the representation of elected women now stands at about 25 % at each level of government, including on municipal councils, in provincial/territorial legislatures and at federal level. (Parliament of Canada, 2016) With this significant gender parity in politics, the paper examines the causes of the under-representation of Canadian women in politics. Findings are based on scholarly articles and their analyzed data on why do fewer Canadian women run for political office. When taken together, the results presented in this paper argues that (1) unwelcoming environment (women and family unfriendly working environment) with lack of support in political engagement, (2) women’s experience of exclusion, paternalism and systemic discrimination in political realm, and (3) media’s portrayal of women as to be marginalized by the society are what cause Canadian women to be under-represented in politics. Finally, the paper raises an interesting question from the topic of gender disparity into further discussion of the discrimination within discriminated group women other than those privileged ones who are likely to be selected in public

Australian families have experienced many significant changes over the past 6 decades. These changes consequently resulted in equality of opportunities, and conditions for women in the labour force. Along with the willingness of most men to become voluntarily involved in core household work, as well as taking on a greater role with respect to childcare. This essay will discuss two significant changes in gender roles, and will examine some of the positive and negative impacts it had on Australian society over the past six decades. On the one hand, Australian federal and state governments passed several new laws and legislations which resulted in an increased participation by women in the labour force. These legislative changes provide many

It is also evident that since female and male candidates are equally qualified for political positions and have the same success rate in elections, the gender gap can be explained through the lack of female participation in elections. Many governments, including the Canadian government, have contemplated introducing quota systems to reduce the scope of the gender gap and ensure female representation in parliament. However, in a democratic system, quotas can be viewed as a “violation of liberal democracy” because they favour a specific people group (“50% Population”). The solution, therefore, rests in the hands of the next generation of female leaders. It is up to young, educated women to embrace Virginia Woolf’s parting message in her essay A Room of One’s Own of acquiring “a room of [their] own” (Woolf 4). In other words, young women are faced with the task of developing a sense of independence and having the “habit of freedom and the courage” in order to pursue a career in politics (Woolf 112). Even though there are initiatives in universities aimed prepare women to run for politics such as the She Will Run, it is essential to acknowledge that gender parity in the political environment will not be achieved automatically ("50% Population”). As instructed by Woolf, young women must move past stereotypes, suppress

This essay will argue why Canada should take a substantive approach to women’s representation in parliament. Having an adequate representation of women in parliament would be a huge turning point for women and allow their voices to be heard. Each woman holds a different view, just like men do. Each gender and person will bring their own view forth and allow for a diverse House. The issue is that women are not getting adequate representation, and therefore are not being able to represent their views. Men have a much larger congregation than women, therefore overpowering the views/ideologies of them. In Canada, everyone strives for equality, and the best place to start is to take a substantive approach to women’s representation in parliament.

There are eights that CMWC are working towards, which are protecting and promoting women, social and cultural rights, women’s work, the human right of immigrant women, Aboriginal women, and lesbians, supporting human rights of women around the world and encouraging women’s active citizenship. CMWC looks at 13 demands that is urgent for women and brings it forward to the government. October 17 is national women’s lobby and this allows CMWC to discuss all the demands with cabinet ministers and prime minister. CMWC is working to make sure the gender-based, patriarchal violence that has been embedded in our lives and eliminate it from our lives. Additionally, CMWC is finding different ways to end exploitation, appropriation, and commodification of women’s bodies in media and women’s work. CMWC is putting a stop the negotiation of women humanity and subjectivity and exploitation of women productive and reproductive work, which devalues and objectification women, which is seen as invisible and devalued has been

Simpson (n.d). states, facilitators need to have several factors to accomplish generating a successful critical mass analysis: 1)" knowledge that gives all the necessary data, 2) a desire to achieve a resolution to the specific problem, 3) stay focused on the specific problem and not get side tracked, 4) confidence in their ability to assist the organization in succeeding

A Japanese- Canadian women who lived in the same time period mentions that despite her hard work in feeding 27 men, 3 times a day, cleaning their cabinets, doing the laundry, etc, she only received one dollar per person, per month (Gray, 1992). If they were a higher number of female candidates in the parliament, perhaps decisions and services provided by the government for female citizens could have been enhanced as the leader is more likely to advocate issues related to child care, education, women abuse, health care and equal pay. Despite the fact, the issue of women’s right to vote was struck with protests from both genders; as men considered women inferior, and believed they shouldn’t be given this power, and by women stating that this was injustice and women’s voices upon how to run the government should be heard, Canadian women were granted the right to vote. However, the Canadian Parliament act of 1918 stated that only women who were a British subject were allowed to vote in the Dominion election (Canadian parliament Act of 1918). Thus, the aboriginal women’s right to vote and their opinions were

With women making up approximately 50.2% of the population, you’d think they would have a stronger level of representation in parliament compared to the 29% we grip to with heavy hearts. Yet despite the under-representation and the unwillingness to do something about the issue, women are still trying to overcome the barriers that prevent them from climbing the career ladder offered in the Australian political playing field.

Gender inequality has been a long part of Canada’s history with men being the dominant decision makers. Women have had to fight long hard battles and overcome numerous obstacles to prove themselves and demonstrate that they are equal to men and not inferior. Over the course of a century women have achieved suffrage and have become increasingly visible in the political and economic sectors. Despite all the achievements women have made barriers remain in effect leaving women at a social, economic and political disadvantage even in the twenty-first century. The primary obstacles in achieving gender equality are the noticeable absence of women in authoritative economic and political positions, unfair social stereotypes that are still

Society sees men with the traits that display more stronger and dominant attitudes that is left women to be in the shadow. Women having a lower income compared to men are not because they work fewer hours, and it is not because they have a lower education level as well (Grant). This shows patriarchy where it revolves around a power system that is organized around the dominance of men. “Even with all of these factors are considered, the result remains the same: a wage gap” (Grant). During the election, it was shown that the majority of the elected members were men (Taber). The results were that 88 out of 338 MPs have been elected into the federal office (Taber), which shows that society does not give many women the opportunity to be

Julia Gillard was Australia’s 27th Prime Minister and the first woman to ever take on this role in the history of Australia. She was prime minister from 2010 to 2013. Throughout her prime ministership years, Gillard was challenged for her leadership role from a gender perspective. For this reason, her speech debates the notion of misogyny, sexism and the idea that ‘women are being under-represented in institutions of power in Australia’ (Sydney Morning Herald 2012). Her aim was to recognise the rights and roles of women in all public and private spheres of

When Sylvia Bashevkin wrote “ the higher, the fewer” it was to indicate a pattern in women's political participation. The number of women in politics drops as one moves upward to the upper tiers of government, federal or provincial. The gap between the number of women involved in politics to the number of women in the country is still too wide. Over half the population is female and yet less than 25% were Members of Parliament in 2011. As of 2016 only 31% of senators were female. This gap highlights the need to continue to pursue the feminist movement.

Women make up 51% of the New Zealand population, however, women in New Zealand parliament only make up just over 30% in parliament (2014). For women to be represented in parliament, it means that women need to be seen as a ‘norm’ in government, and therefore all positions of power. This under-representation can be linked to factors such as the environment and the culture of the New Zealand parliament and political parties. It is important to note that women are not a homogenous group; and we have to include ethnicity and class, which links into opportunity. This gender gap in parliament has caused societal issues to be silenced and minority groups to be left out of decision making and therefore society.