As I was considering stating in the
general elections 2015, I've spent a lot
of time talking to women in Bristol about what is keeping them from being more
engaged in the political process. Five main reasons have emerged, and although
they are not the only ones, they kept on coming up again and again.
1. Lack
of confidence came up in all conversations, and I
can't say that I am unfamiliar with this feeling. As women, we are faced with
confidence issues all the time - from our bodies and the way we parent our
children, to the way we take care of the extended family and express ourselves
at work. We often suffer from what is known as the "impostor syndrome"
- a feeling that we are not as good as people think we are, and we are going to
be found out any minute now.
Remember that time when you stood in a
meeting and you had so much to say? But just before you came in you were unable
to verify that data with a thousand sources, so you did not want to say
anything for the fear of everybody discovering that you are not so clever? I
do! But guess what - we are clever, we have a lot to contribute, so it's time
to take off the cover up and step in the way we are!
2. Disengaging language. Hustings,
polls, policies, deficit, governance, neoliberal economic approaches... isn't
that an easy language to gasp and understand straight off your feet? Unless you
are involved in political processes already - no, this is NOT! It is a language
of exclusion and leads to many women (and men!) disengaging with politics. This
is one of the reasons populist parties are gaining ground - they are successful
at translating politics into every day language.
3. Bureaucratic
and patriarchal process. The way parties organise
their internal selection processes and campaigns, the way people are engaged are
still set in old bureaucratic and patriarchal ways. Most meetings (certainly
the most important ones) take place in the evening, leaving out large numbers
of women with caring responsibilities.
4.
Disillusion with politics. The numbers of people
voting and engaging with the political process is NOT on the rise. Women are
disengaged from politics (because of the language, because of the time meetings
take place) and distance themselves from it.
There is a general feeling that politicians are these white middle class
people who have no idea what it is like to live in a terraced house, on the
outskirts of Bristol, juggling 2 jobs and 3 children. Isn’t it true at the moment?
5.
Women's representation in the media. Women's
representation in the media is not working to our advantage. Starting with the
representation of the "ideal" body, to our representation as
coldblooded women who do not care about our families (ie. Iron Lady), or women
who are miraculously transformed by a role in politics (Mail Online headline: Goodbye
death row hair, hello super-sleek soon to be First Minister Nicola, Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2795023/liz-jones-goodbye-death-row-hair-hello-super-sleek-soon-minister-nicola.html#ixzz3LVeLesQx
).
These are all valid points. But we do not
have to accept them as the norm. We can change this. Together!
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