| | International Women’s Day: What is the way forward? | | | | Modifier la taille du texte: | A | | | A | | |
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| | Par:- Touria Prayag
On 10/03/2009 |
The easy answer to this question one might think is, ‘have more women in politics’.
Indeed, some women’s organizations have been doing very good work promoting this idea and helping women to get involved in politics. Dr. Sithanen’s erudite treatise in this respect is highly inspiring, too.
While the presence of women in politics and at the decision-making table is essential in any true democracy and while it is reasonable to believe that women are in a better position to press for the needs of other women as they can feel where the hurt is, my sympathy is limited. In spite of the validity of the arguments put forward, I have the following reservations:
First, the system of quotas of any type is of doubtful validity and flies in the face of meritocracy. It is also patronizing and degrading.
Secondly, I am not sure whether having more women at the Legislative Assembly will necessarily improve the lot of the ordinary woman. The cases of women who broke through the glass ceiling, went up and pulled the ladder up behind them are telling. Margaret Thatcher is a case in point. Her stance when it comes to women can be summarized by Patricia Hewitt, a Labour minister, in the following statement to the BBC, "Margaret Thatcher damaged women's place in the workplace, undermined families and communities, and did nothing for women in public life. It was a wasted opportunity on a gargantuan scale." Mrs. Indira Mayer holds a similar record and so does Mrs. Indira Gandhi.
Have our ladies in parliament been promoting the cause of other women? On the occasion of Women’s Day, and responding to an interview question on the cases of rape, conjugal violence and other types of violence women are victims of, Mrs. SEEBUN replies, ‘les femmes doivent savoir se faire respecter.’ What disrespect can these victims be accused of? The latest case of rape which made the headlines was the Sodnac case where a girl, in the prime of her youth, was raped in broad daylight while going to her lectures?!
Should we, then, argue for a system of quotas? Will more women in the Legislative Assembly help other women or should we concentrate our efforts on helping the hordes of voiceless women climb out of poverty, stigma, helplessness and prejudice?
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| ghazi-shaheed | | | Just more women in politics - No.More dedicated,enlightened and selfless men and women in politics - Yes.It is now time that the quality of human being expected of our legislators,irrespective of sex and creed,is revisited. This will be the real way forward. | | | nagovisi | | | Patriarchy as a system of power that organizes society into a complex of relationships that oppresses women. Matriarchy? S. Walby (1990) has distinguished six locations of patriarchal relations: sexuality, the household, male-on-female violence, paid employment, cultural institutions, and the state. By understanding how patriarchal societies function and analysing all the facets of such a system that put women at a disadvantage, it becomes possible to devise Women empowerment programmes that can attempt at changing those patterns at the core by proposing changes at legal, cultural, economic, political and social level. If a woman is not aware that she is living in a patriachal society, she might think that she is in total control of her life and decisions. As long as women accept a male world-view as the natural one, the struggle to women's liberation will be never-ending. The fight is taking place within a male point of view. I may sound very radical but certain features of matriarchal societies like children taking the mother's name could be encouraged, valorised so single mothers are proud and not ashamed of passing on their names. The new breed of men will hopefully have no issue with their children taking on the name of their beloved partner without feeling less of a 'man'. | | | Emiliano Z | | | Well done Starbright, good send-up of Thatcher. Silly me, for a moment back there, i thought you were serious. | | | Veena | | | Women should use sex to promote positive change. Let all the woman decide on a date to deny their partners sexual gratification until a certain change is implemented. About going on strike until a deal is reached? | | | agni | | | Affirmative Action has not worked anywhere... including the US. Current involvement of women into "politics" by the government is only just them playing politics: enrolling women to vote for them in next election. The law gives us Equality. It's men who prevent it from happening. Men harass women at work, because that's what they do at home, because that's what they've seen their parents do. To a society wired this way, men would not willingly let women "run" them. Everything men do is designed to keep women under their thumb. To break this cycle women have to act pro-actively and say "Stop". We are mothers, sisters, daughters... do we say STOP when we are confronted with words and actions we don't like? What do we teach are own sons? What kind of men are we raising? We are a majority in Mauritius. Whether they like it or not, politicians will have to deal with us. They need our vote. Whichever community we come from, as women we deal with the same issues... we should speak with the same voice. We have all seen what men in power have done... what are we going to do with power? | | | Mandouq | | | If (parliamentary) democracy was conceived by men for a world dominated by men, as feminists have been saying, then why on earth does Touria want to join the crowd of decidedly incompetent and ineffectual male politicians.
I would like women to take control, but most certainly women need to do politics differently .
On reading Touria's last paragraph I sense that she is making a difference between "being in Legislative Assembly" and "helping women climb out of poverty and stigma". I always believed that one gets into the assembly with exactly that aim in mind: to help people (men and women) out of poverty, etc.
I think that the best way to bring tangible changes to the circumstances of the needy is to continue to work with people at the grassroot level, in communities and in close proximity of those who need to be empowered. Yes, this would be the realisation of that aspect of democracy which we have never seen in this country: decentralisation of power. Further, it would be a mistake to focus only on women, because poverty knows no sex boundaries. In a poor family all members of that family are effected, not only the women.
I count on you women, mothers of this land to make a difference. But please remain different from men, and do things differently...and better. | | | Starbright | | | Margaret Thatcher was the champion of free minds and markets, she helped topple the welfare state and make the world safer for capitalsim. She was the catalyst who set in motion a series of interconnected events that gave revolutionary twist to the last century's last two decades and helped mankind end of the millennium on a note and hope of confidence.The triumph of capitalism,the most universal acceptance of the market as indispensable to prosperity, the collapse of the Soviet imperialism, the downsizing of the state on nearly every continent and almost in every country in the world, Margaret Thatcher played in all those transformations, and it is not easy to see how any woulld have occured without her. And please do not forget the Falklands war. | | | Emiliano | | | "concentrate our efforts on helping the hordes of voiceless women climb out of poverty, stigma, helplessness and prejudice" Yes Touria. That would be good in an egalitarian world inhabited by perfectly tolerant and understanding people. Reality: It's not gonna happen anytime soon. Solution: Quotas. Not perfect, no, but something tangible in the interim.
| | | VL | | | I think your view is very one-sided and does not bring anyone any nearer to any concrete solution to get voiceless women out of trouble. Using only the counter examples does not bring balance to the debate. Surely there must be examples of women in this whole world and why not in our own country, who have served the cause of women by being in politics? Why not give benefit of doubt to those women who want to give it a try? I think generalising from the wrong examples or quoting someone, perhaps out of context, does not help the cause of women either. | | | Veena | | | The way forward is through participation at all levels in society. In order to participate meaningfully, all impediments in the way of such empowerment must be removed, first at home, then at school and then in the work place. The mindset must change.
Education must be the starting point.
More women in politics will not do the job. Quota is an insult to the intelligence of our better 50%.
The problem is cultural. Attitudes must change for other changes to happen.
There is no need to have a Ministry for Woman Affairs. Society through education must be able to adjust its expectations.
A cultural revolution to change attitudes and expectations will help women and men more than any piece of legislation. | | | Smita Hassamal | | | Very inspiring article- the voice of a few advantaged ones will not make the cries of the less fortunate sound louder! | |
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