Women In Australia's Political System

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

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.

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.

Wilson points out that women are steadily gaining traction in legislature, but at a severely slow pace when compared to other Western democracies. Over 30% of all Democratic state legislator are women. Conversely, fewer than one in six Republican state legislators are women. The chances of a woman winning or losing a political election is no greater than a man’s chances.

More specifically the representation that women and visible minorities receive in parliament. “Women, visible minorities, and Aboriginal peoples continue to be significantly under-represented in the ranks of elected politicians at all levels of government.”(Howe & Northrup, 2000) It is obvious that sufficient representation by government means that everyone in Canada must be represented. There has been an increase for females elected to parliament, however it is subtle. In comparison to other countries, Canada is in the middle, ranked 29th worldwide, in this area. (Howe & Northrup, 2000) Canadians do feel that something should be done to even the playing field by choosing as many female representatives as they do males, much like the Reforms taking place in France. Measures have been taken to rectify this situation, with Bill C-2. This Bill suggested that parties with at least 20 per cent female MPs would be granted a larger amount of reimbursement for their election expenses, and an even larger refund for those parties with 30 per cent female MPs. (Howe & Northrup, 2000) Canadians support the idea that parties should be required to increase the amount of female candidates.

Some people believe women are not socialized in a way that prepares them to hold political powers. Some view politics as a masculine domain. This is a gender stereotype. It is the public’s perception that women cannot make a difference in politics which is often influenced by the

When women try to prove what they can do in the society, they are obstructed with societal stereotyping. In the world of politics, it is rare to see a woman hold a post of any political division. The capabilities that women are able to do has always been overlooked by the society and as a result, women, not just in the Canadian politics, but all over the world, have had begun changing these general views towards them. Actions had been taken,

It might surprise you that while feminist rallies and peaceful protests are taking place worldwide, Australia has in fact retracted their level of female political representation in the last five years. While other nations are progressing in their level of gender equality, the drag in women with an interest in politics is largely to

Women comprise just 26 per cent of politicians currently elected to the House of Commons. Only three Premiers are women and municipally, only 28% of city councillors are women and 18% of mayors. Canada is ranked a distant 63rd in the world on the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s list of Women in National Parliaments.

As being two of the most unliked topics in society, when the two of them are brought together we are faced with a conflicting subject. Politics pursuing the image of justice and fairness, and sexism being a differ in equality between male and female. Although no one can truly be non-sexist, when powerful leaders of our country including a past prime minister, the man who conducts the running of the country makes blunt sexist comments toward a fellow female leader’s numerous times and also toward the women of Australia, it is understandable that women feel a need to fight back for equality.

Civic participation is a fundamental component in one’s life when they become citizens to a country. It begins with an informed decision to engage as a citizen in the democratic process. There are a myriad of ways in which citizens can be active in society. This includes; being involved in political parties, government-making decisions, joining particular organisations of interest as well as the community and its local affairs. It is through this engagement that one attains a sense of identity. However, barriers can also arise when one attempts or chooses to actively participate in the community. This therefore, hinders individuals from further obtaining a form of inclusion amongst society. This overarching idea is evident in Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech. This speech is an excellent exemplar of how gender roles and prejudice against women can trigger and prohibit individuals from actively participating in society.

The link between feminism and voting is strong, as it should be. For this reason, it is crucial for women to exercise their power to vote. This is important because today, even after women’s suffrage was achieved, the woman’s right to vote is still in question, and for these some, it is still not enough to justify this right. These advocates believe that even though women may legally have the right, they are not competent enough to engage in such activity. To say that the vote of women means nothing and that they lack the competency is by far asinine. Women are not inferior to men no matter the circumstance, but evidently some need a little reminder. It is because of such blatant attempts to prove that women are not capable that the fact that they are needs to be revisited, regardless of how many times, long as this still is an issue and a barrier of discrimination that women face daily.

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.

The High Court of Australia recognises representative government to exist at a Commonwealth level as it is implied in the Constitution. The success of representative government in Australia is highly questionable from a feminist perspective. With women making up over half of the voting population but only 29% of parliamentarians the discrepancy becomes apparent. A common argument for the low percentage of women is that women’s political interests can, and are ably represented by male politicians. Another popular argument is that women are physiologically unsuited to certain positions and areas of work, of which politics is one.

New Zealand was the first country to give women the right to vote in 1893, however, since then we have dropped to 27th when it comes to gender representation in government, out of 188 countries. One of the many reasons as to why women are under represented in parliament can be linked to the issue of the political obstacles that face women. This is when they want to be in parliament, women whom are in parliament, and the many women who this is not an option for due to lack of opportunity. Women have to face this “masculine model” of politics and government. Men are dominant in parliament, meaning that political life revolves around male norms and values (Shvedova). This can be extended, politics is very much about competition and confrontation. Rather than politics being