Women and Politics: GWS Second Paper

Katie Sonnabend

GWS 220

Essay #2

Earning a Voice

            Politics. Although this subject is often regarded as a detrimental topic for a dinner conversation due to its polarizing effect and widespread criticism, there is indubitably an influential aspect embedded in the subject. For underneath all the skepticism, the callous socials lies, the corruption and cheating, scandal and controversy, the lack of progression, and general negativity that surrounds this global institution, there is a system that is genial in its fundamental intentions. At the core of the political system stands a universal platform from which muffled voices can be globally broadcasted, hidden faces can be secularly viewed, and where infinite potential lies in wait. This dynamic platform, which has been stereotypically viewed as “a man’s place” for centuries, has been increasingly integrated with the resilient tone of femininity as women from all over the world break through arbitrary constraints and raise their voices-both metaphorically and literally. From fighting for the right to vote, to dealing with the various obstacles constructed by media outlets, to standing up for one’s rights, women have become a mainstay in the global political system.

One of the main historically acknowledged ways in which women began to become integrated into the realm of a male dominated political system was through earning the right to vote.  Australia women can be looked upon as the pioneering force behind advocating for this seemingly basic entitlement, for after years of public activism, the Constitution Amendment Act was passed in 1894, granting the women of Southern Australia suffrage (The State Library of South Australia, 2001). Australian women as an entirety gained the right to vote in 1902 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1998), establishing Australia as one of the first countries to fully sanction women’s suffrage (Crowley, 2001). Not only did Australian women earn the right to vote, but they also were able to secure the right to be an active member of the parliamentary system (Crowley, 2001). This further influenced the women of Australia to continue to advocate for equality in both rights and in standings.

While Australians were rapidly progressing towards suffrage equality, other countries were still battling through the motions. American women, perhaps most notably Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, organized the Women’s Right Convention in 1848 in an effort to gain equality and rights, and while their strives and continuing efforts earned them considerable advances over the years, it was not until the passing of the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920 that suffrage was granted (University of Rochester, 2006). In other countries, the struggle to gain such a basic human right took even more time and cultivating. South Africa curtailed the legalization of female voting until 1994, an entire century after Australian women were handed the ballot (Patterson, 2000). Yet other countries such as Saudi Arabia continue to refrain entirely from allowing women to vote (Seager, 2001).

Despite the fact that the majority of women globally have the right to actively participate in the national vote, this right is not enough to make most women feel aptly involved in the political side of society. Women have both demanded and simply been bestowed a louder voice in political institutions, in part because of the influence of public media outlets. In some cases, the exaggerated media attention allows for women to illustrate a point while negating the need to customize a political agenda and in other cases there can be profound implications relating to how media portrays certain female politicians. Furthermore, the way in which the media chooses to portray women in politics-both elected and contending-can highly influence how voters and peers view her. Various media stations will utilize framing techniques in order to positively or negatively represent women commercially (Grotto, 2011). Often times media circuits will try to polarize females in the media through framing in order to achieve a heightened sense of drama and intrigue in stories to up ratings (Grotto, 2011). Distorted images of females have popped up all over news stations, in newspapers and magazines, and online, leading many to unfairly judge women who are simply trying to take a stand.

During campaign months, one can easily find media snippets that portray certain candidates in a negative light. This is particularly seen on Internet websites, some of which are run by national corporations and others that are established by individuals who oppose that candidate’s views.  For instance, when former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was in contention for a spot on the ballot, media outlets flocked her. Some blogs began portraying her as an unfit mother and unleashed lunatic in some cases (I Power Blogger, 2010). The criticism did not stop with the end of a particular blog post, but rather spread to Internet sites selling merchandise portraying her in a negative light by printing t-shirts embellished with Palin photographs and sayings such as “Another Bush that Shouldn’t be in the White House”, selling bumper stickers reading “Somewhere in Alaska a Village is Trying to Lose its Idiot”, and photoshopping pictures of the politician on posters in scantily clad outfits with slogans like “Sorry Obama, This time it’s Ho’s before Bro’s!” (The Forge Web Creations, 2008). The further into the campaign season that Palin got, more sites seemed to pop up in opposition to her political position.

 This type of negative media attention is not specific to just female politicians running in the United State, but rather is an ambiguous and gratuitous means of publically misrepresenting an individual for personal gain. When individuals opposed the political agenda of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, several articles surfaced on the Internet claiming she was the legitimate span of Adolf Hitler in order to tarnish her image and attempt to limit her growing power (Project Avalon, 2011). This negativity towards women politicians may also be a resulting factor of media centers run predominately by males (Meehan & Riordan, 2002). This tends to become an apparent explanation with the knowledge that some male politicians are viewed more favorably than their female counterpart; as was the case in Britain when media stations continually portrayed politician Tony Blair more favorably than fellow politician Margaret Beckett, leading voters to associate Blair with positivity more so than Beckett (Ross, 2003).  

No matter the underlying reasons why women involved in political institutions are targeted negatively, women around the globe are aware of this reoccurring problem. Numerous interviews from women of different countries including Australia, England, South Africa, and Ireland show that women are not only aware of the implications that gender related media agendas, but are also working towards establishing themselves in a more positive light as voters become more and more dependent on social media to gain information (Ross, 2003). Women are learning how to morph media attention into showing society who she really is and in many cases, this technique is working successfully.

In some instances, women will use the romanticism of specific events in order to be seen favorably by the public. This was the case when Kate Middleton became engaged to Prince William of the British Royal Family. While members of the Royal Family of Great Britain are often regarded as figure heads, the addition of Kate Middleton to the family tree brought with it hoards of news stories. This gratuitous exposure stems primarily from the media’s fascination with the story behind her fairytale romance with Prince William (University of Maryland, 2011) and has allowed the Royal Family to remain in the spotlight, promoting charities and organizations to the masses without making big political agendas. American female politicians, along with the female politicians of numerous other countries, have utilized this same tactic. As media outlets sensationalize the glamorous image of certain females in the spotlight, these women use the publicity to further voice their opinions on a far-reaching public platform (Ross, 2003).

This same tactic, of using grandiose events to gain positive media coverage, worked well for women in more definite political positions. As Americans delighted in the fascination of electing Barack Obama as President of the United States, the world watched as his wife, Michelle Obama stepped out into the limelight, posed and ready to voice her opinions. She began advocating for programs that she felt would bring beneficial progress to the United States, including her Let’s Move campaign aimed at drawing awareness to childhood obesity (The White House News, 2010). In this sense, Michelle Obama uses the political power of her husband to gain support for her own programs, even though her husband does very little in regards to nationally promoting her endeavors. The is a hidden platform that gives rise to females closely associated with important political figures and by extorting some of that power, women have found a means of voicing their opinions to the masses. Furthermore, these women are able to earn imperative media coverage from a positive angle that can help keep their husbands in the political system and which ultimately allows her to continue to speak on behalf of those who would otherwise not have as strong of a hold on the political agenda.

In some countries, where women are predominately regarded as equals, women do not have to relay as closely on the media or their husband’s status to gain accessibility and approval from society in order to make her stance known. In Iceland, a nation noted as being the both world’s most female friendly nation (Guardian News, 2010) and the world’s top ranked country on the gender development index (Seager, 2001), several progressive steps have been taken in order to better the lives of women. This may be partially accomplished by the fact that as of 2009, there were an equal number of females in the Icelandic government as males (Ministry of Welfare, 2009); however, the strong unification of feminist activists help in bringing about social change. Feminists in the nation joined together with politicians in an attempt to fight against laws allowing for prostitution and the sexual exploitation of women (Guardian News, 2010). Following the prompt initiated by Britain activists to shut down sex industry related operations, Iceland passed a law shutting down all strip clubs in the country (Guardian News, 2010). Additionally, lap dancing and other provocative sexual acts for money have been outlawed due to the work of feminist and female politicians (Guardian News, 2010).

Not only is Iceland progressive in its actions towards bringing about change for women, but it also is progressive in its view on lesbian women. Iceland is the first nation to elect an openly gay Prime Minister-Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir (Ring, 2009). Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir, with the help of other politicians-both male and female-unanimously passed a law legalizing the marriage between same sex couples (Thomson Reuters, 2010). Following the passing of this law, Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir herself married her longtime partner (IceNews, 2010). Sigurdardóttir uses her political position to give a voice to women who have varying views on what is socially classifies as normal.

As females in Iceland and other progressive countries continue to use politics to voice opinions and bring about social change, the world is able to see the true power of women. Once women are able to break through the initial barrier holding them back from being seen and heard on political agendas, they were able to make great strides towards progression. From watching women begin to fight for the vote over a hundred years ago, to battling the media, to seeing numerous women around the world holding political seats, the world has seen women continuously integrating themselves into the global political system. Judging from these events, it is likely that women will continue to be a prominent factor within this system.

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