Gender in politics: social and cultural aspects

Gender inequality is a problem not only across Europe—all over the world there is a power gap between men and women. Women have less access to parliamentary and executive power; they are less educated, have fewer good jobs and are less wealthy than men. The underlying reasons for gender inequality can be found in the patriarchal structure of the cultural background of every ethnicity, nation or people. Also all religious communities, whether Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, traditional or Christian, give more power to men than to women. Lots of Europeans think that gender inequality is not as much of a problem in our generation as it was in our parents’ and grandparents’ generations, or not as much of a problem as in developing countries or Arab countries; but we Europeans are also living under unequal gender conditions. One instrument for the empowerment of women in the government is a quota system, since aside from the afore mentioned cultural, economic and social and historical reasons, female participation also depends on the electoral system. Why women need special rights? The measurements of the GDI and GEM show that women’s power, opportunities and quality of life are lesser than those of men. Globally two out of three illiterate people are women. In 1995, 24.5 percent of girls did not go to a school, compared with 16.4 percent of boys. In South Asia, especially in Pakistan, the situation is worse: there the school enrolment of girls is is 50 percent less than that of boys. Of the 1.2 billion people in the world living in extreme poverty, 70 percent are female. As a result women’s health condition is worse. Violence against women is another specific problem; especially in the private or family setting. Statistics say that every 9 seconds a woman is violated by her boyfriend or husband in the United States. In India around 10.000 female newborns are killed every year because their parents cannot afford the dowry. These are some of the reasons why everyone should start to fight for women’s rights. Political rights and political participation are one aspect of women’s empowerment and increasing women’s life quality. To put it the other way around, an increased life quality will empower more women to participate in politics. Women’s political participation and representation is not democratic. The causality of the power gap between women and men is very difficult to explain. There are lots of reasons for female under-representation: family background, cultural and religious background, gender identity, education, age, job, income, and time budget, all theseinfluence the political career of a woman. All the reasons for under-representation are the results of female under-representation as well. Women all over the world each fit into their own special context which is created by their religion, nation, ethnicity and economical situation. It is not only gender that defines identity.