Representation Of Women In Politics Essay

“women’s Declaration of Independence” was the goal of the right to vote, but that was

The sexualisation of women in advertising has become a very prominent and controversial issue in today’s society. Many brands, products and campaigns we are presented with portray women as being available and willing sexual objects, who exist to cater to the male gender. Gucci is one such brand that does this, focusing on emphasizing the sexual appeal of the female gender in order to sell their products, because as advertisers know: ‘sex sells.’ This new cultural shift can however, be seen as politically regressive for women, as the ideology it brings negatively impacts how women are viewed by society and how they view themselves.

What was the most underrepresented social group in the elected assemblies of the world? whether is the minority ethnic, religious groups or the poor? According to Putman’s statistic, the answer was “women”. (Putnam 1976 cited in Megyery 1991) Statistics have shown that although women around the globe occupy more than one half of the population, very small proportion become political elite. Different from what women have encountered, man tends to dominate many spheres in life which includes electoral politics. Such gender disparity happens everywhere not just in Canada. Ever since Canadian women suffrage and the right to candidacy was achieved, they have made a couple strides in political arena, yet not as many as they wish with the existence of electoral glass ceiling standing

Numerous systemic barriers are preventing women from entering the political workforce including (but no limited to): family, the brutality of politics, male domination, stereotypes and traditionalism. Family plays probably the most important role in women’s decision-making on whether to enter politics.

genders. Women may have the same political rights, however they are still degraded and seen as inferior to men. So, women in politics are now trying to prove that they are just as capable as men are. However, their attempts are being suppressed due to the inappropriate comments against them. Sexist remarks in the media against female political candidates is the reason why there is a smaller amount of women in government.

In reality, however, women are equally and in some ways more qualified to hold leadership positions than men. Although there is no single explanation for why women are underrepresented in politics, the gender gap in the political arena stems from the lack of female participation in elections as women are often discouraged or feel threatened by society to run for political office. Young women who aspire a career in politics encounter both structural and emotional barriers, which prevent them from running for political office. Women battle issues of self-confidence, face stereotypes, and derive false perceptions of political campaigns, all of which broaden the gender gap in the political

Women first gained the right to vote on August 26, 1920 with the 19th amendment was approved, giving women full voting rights. Fortified by the constitutional victory in 1920, the handful of new women in Congress embarked on what would become a century-long journey to broaden women’s role in government. In the intervening years, the drive for more women’s rights encompassed the lives of the next generations of women. Even today, women are still fighting for their rights and stand up against prejudice. On the forefront of this movement are our women congresswomen who speak on behalf of all women. When Hillary Clinton announced her presidential candidacy, controversial questions immediately surfaced about the role of gender in politics. Through Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008 and 2016, media is the principal propagator in showing bias and sexism.

There have been many significant strides since 1970 when women occupied almost no major elective positions in U.S. political institutions. Today’s society has reflected remarkable changes in women’s equality and acceptance. In 2008, Hillary Clinton received 18 million votes when she fought for presidency of the Democratic Party . In 2011, Sarah Palin was listed at the top of her candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. However, women are consistently being underrepresented in the political world reaching beyond just the federal level. Clyde and Thomas attest the underrepresentation to two basic reasons: lack of political ambition as well as historic exclusion of women from professions that tend to lead toward the political arena . Three central barriers contribute to the difficult road ahead for the

make 120s, or 60 pence, a day. It was reasons such as this that women

As well, a woman’s place in the government was significantly different to a man’s. Geraldine Ferraro says, “For all that my female colleagues and I had achieved, we still had to more, work harder, and produce more to be judged the same as men” (Ferraro 57). She also says, “So much had changed…I arrived in Congress…I had joined the Congress Women's Caucus. But there were far to women in the House and Senate-only eleven Democrats and six Republicans to sway 435 votes” (Ferraro 41). Her evidence supporting the gender positions is evidenced by the ratio of men to women serving jobs in the government. She even goes on to acknowledge that if a woman works harder and is more efficient compared to the quality of a man’s work, at the end of the day

Campaign for Women's Suffrage A campaign for women’s suffrage developed in the years after 1870 due to socio-economic and political reasons. The transformation of Britain into an industrialised nation prompted a change in the way gender roles were perceived; separate gender spheres in business, politics and the home were accentuated. Although a woman’s role was still thought to be in the home, they had complete control over all domestic affairs, and began to acknowledge the need to exert more power in the outside world. Religious missionaries, active in the humanitarian movement, were among the first feminists.

Admittedly, Hilary Clinton has spoken around the world about the challenges that women have faced. However, it is the continued struggle of American women that inspires and fuels her passion and fight for equality in this male-dominated culture. Also, while married to bill Clinton who was actively involved in women’s right, Hilary advocated for a standard of equality that embrace all colors and cultures. . Clinton establishes ethos when she states, “Over the past 25 years, I have worked persistently on issues relating to women, children, and families. Over the past two and a half years, I've had the opportunity to learn

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 are underrepresented in political offices at the national and local levels. Currently, only 17 women serve in the United States Senate out of 100 seats and only 16 percent of the United States House of Representatives are female. Why is this a problem? Legislatures, the House of

Women have found power in a variety of ways though out history in their struggle towards justice and equality. Though personal power can take many forms this paper will primarily focus on power found through gender solidarity, class issues, race or sexuality. I intend to examine the ways in which three different women, of different races and times in history, were able to find such power resulting in a positive change to either their own lives or the lives of others. Those women are: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Eleanor Roosevelt and Melba Beals.