Politics of Gender

Question 1

how is gender a social construction?

Answer 1

1) Gender is Created – Girls dressed in pink, Boys dressed in blue
2) Gender is Re-created –Through socialization
3) Gender can be hard to notice
4) Gender is an institution
5) Gender is ranked

Question 2

what was the issue with singapore’s 2016 general election?

Answer 2

• Absence of Gender Equality “may be indicative of a meritocracy not performing at its best and this imbalance may handicap the quality of views and opinions in government” (Vasu & Cabuyao, p. 168)
• Comments about Women MPs more devoted to their children than constituents
• All parties favored male candidates
• Few women in party leadership
• PAP’s 30% target for its women MPs
• GRCs do not require women candidates

Question 3

how has patriarchy taken form in society?

Answer 3

• Permeates all of society and politics: socialisation, cultural norms, media and representation, legal systems and reproductive rights, religion)
• Public Sphere vs. Private Sphere
• Abstract terms like individual and citizen actually signify men
  -> Historical context of gendered language
  -> The “individual” as as masculine norm (independence, autonomy, rationality)
  -> The citizen as a male-centric concept (e.g rights to vote, own property, participate in politics)
• Proposed a night curfew for women to prevent assaults
• Women beaten, raped, killed for not producing sons, marrying who they like
• Domestic violence is rampant – laws against it are weak
• Sexual harassment charges not taken seriously by many men
• Feminists recognize:
  1) The personal is political
  2) They critique dominant masculinities that are presented as common-sense, the human standards for norms, conventions and practices

Question 4

what is feminism and its three waves?

Answer 4

Three waves:
1st wave) Education and voting rights 1700s>
2nd wave) Legal, employment & reproductive rights 1960s >
3rd wave) Diversity of feminisms 1990s >

Definition:
1) A research paradigm examining gendered life
2) An ideology that explains how and why gender oppression occurs and how to liberate society by changing gender roles
3) Social movements seeking to address unequal relations of power

Question 5

what are the implications of women in top leadership positions?

Answer 5

1) Are increasing in number but still only a small share of heads of government
2) Are often family members of prominent male politicians
3) The “Glass Cliff” – Women step in when a government or society is in crisis
4) Face the “Double Bind” of leadership expectations
5) Cabinet Positions: ‘Soft Portfolios’

Question 6

what are the 5 pathways of improvement for women in parliament?

Answer 6

1. Flat (China)
2. Increasing (Denmark)
3. Big Jump (Rwanda)
4. Low Increasing (Malaysia)
5. Plateau (Romania)

Question 7

what is the UN critical mass theory?

Answer 7

• 1995 Beijing Conference sets target of 30% women in decision-making level positions
• Belief that women must reach a sufficient threshold to change group culture, rules, behavior
• Assumption that descriptive representation (numbers of women politicians) will improve substantive representation (improving women’s conditions)