{"id":4011,"date":"2024-01-28T18:12:46","date_gmt":"2024-01-28T18:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewitnessexet.wpengine.com\/?p=4011"},"modified":"2024-01-30T11:18:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T11:18:31","slug":"opinion-an-exploration-of-womens-place-in-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=4011","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: An Exploration of Women\u2019s Place in Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 41 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n

Women have had varying roles within society throughout history, and within politics these roles have ranged\u00a0from having\u00a0no\u00a0control over their own lives, to becoming presidents. However,\u00a0women still aren\u2019t being awarded the power that many believe they could have.\u00a0In the UK in 1979, 3% of seats in the House of Commons were held by women, compared to 34% in 2019<\/a>.\u00a0These increases are likely due to policies and programs like the\u00a0Sustainable Development Goals<\/a>\u00a0as well as grassroots activism and increased representation for women in politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Seneca Falls Convention 1848<\/a>, presented an opportunity for women to gain some power in society and the failings of men to appreciate women were acknowledged. The convention was held over two days where on the first only women were part of the discussions, then men joined on the second day. The Convention led to positive changes for women in the United States as one of its most important resolutions was that laws that labelled women as inferior to men had \u201cno force or authority<\/a>\u201d. It also stated that women should \u201csecure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise<\/a>\u201d, in short, stating that women should have the right to vote. The Suffragettes<\/a> in the United Kingdom in 1920, then continued this fight and helped it gain global traction and attention for the political welfare and autonomy of women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, current manifestations and developments of this fight are being seen through the #MeToo<\/a> and other movements. Globally, there have been many movements led by women, and for women, who are fighting for their rights around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women and their bodies have always been under the influence and control of governments and men.\u00a0Forced sterilisation<\/a>\u00a0of minority groups, including disabled people,\u00a0in the United States forced women to relinquish control of their reproductive organs. \u00a0China\u2019s Once Child Policy<\/a>\u00a0also\u00a0resulted in many baby girls being killed or abandoned due to their father\u2019s desire for a boy, as well as leading to\u00a0increases in domestic violence or the medical abuse of women.\u00a0And more recently,\u00a0Roe vs Wade<\/a>\u00a0proved that\u00a0even though there have been many\u00a0improvements\u00a0for women,\u00a0they are still facing many challenges.\u00a0Roe vs Wade banned abortions in some states within the United States, meaning that women don\u2019t have access to safe, medical abortions, and could be forced to have a judge or other people involved in the medical procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\u00a0globally, women found this appalling and another way for men to control their bodies, especially as many of the policymakers involved in the decision were men, to which\u00a0four out of five who voted to overturn the ruling were men<\/a>. Roe vs Wade brought women from all over the globe together to fight for their reproductive rights.\u00a0This led to\u00a0protests<\/a>\u00a0all over the United States, as well as a lot of social media attention, making women around the world aware of what was going on in the United States\u00a0and bringing them together.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the next general election,\u00a0the British\u00a0parliament may become the \u201cmost diverse parliament ever<\/a>\u201d, in terms of race and ethnicity alongside gender.\u00a0This is a very hopeful prospect as we\u00a0can assume that this will give women more of a voice in British politics. But, at the end of the day there have already been women in British politics who have been ignored, or even demonised in some cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some have even gone so far as to argue that women make for better politicians than men due to their\u00a0more caring and hardworking natures<\/a>.\u00a0This makes us think about women\u2019s versus men\u2019s abilities to lead.\u00a0Women have historically been seen to have more meek or gentle natures which men have argued makes them unsuitable to politics or positions of power. But in contemporary society, we must reflect on statements and opinions such as those that\u00a0disregard women\u2019s ability to take control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we look at this, and everything else that women have done for and in politics\u00a0that I have explored in this article, it raises the question what will it take for women to be taken seriously in\u00a0the political world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image: Garry Knight<\/a>, 2018\/\/CC BY 2.0 Deed<\/a><\/p>\n

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Women have had varying roles within society throughout history, and within politics these roles have ranged\u00a0from having\u00a0no\u00a0control over their own lives, to becoming <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":4012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,67,228,30],"tags":[108,81,44],"class_list":["post-4011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-gender-2","category-justice","category-politics","tag-gender","tag-politics","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}