Women and politics: the contestation for visibility (original) (raw)
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This paper examines the women’s political participation as election candidates in Sarawak. The study will center on the behind scenes of the 2013 General Election / GE13 (Sarawak Parliamentary seats). The investigation aims to contribute to the existing resource on women's political participation in Sarawak and Malaysia in general. The generated data may support the clamor for more participation of women as election candidates in Malaysian politics, particularly in Sarawak. The objectives are to produce a comprehensive gender ranking of political parties‟ candidates list for 2013 election and to highlight issues pertaining to women's participation in this electoral politics. There is a record number of women (eight candidates) contested in GE13 for Sarawak constituency areas and five of the eight women candidates won their election. Further, some of the interesting features in this election are the ability of the winners to gain more votes from the male candidates which also indicated their popularity even though they were fielded for the first time (for example a female candidate from PBB). Thus, a candidate’s gender does not seem to be a major factor for voters in deciding when they decide whom to vote. It is also interesting to observe the battle between two big political parties that represents the Bumiputera (PBB) and the Chinese dominated party (DAP) continued to field the women candidates and eventually won with a big majority. The remaining PBB‟s counterpart, SUPP and, PRS remains a status quo for not fielding any women candidates in the 2008 GE and the 10th State Election in 2011. On the other hand, SPDP stays staunch with the sole woman candidate since Sarawak State Election of 2006. With no women candidates in the said parties indicated the question of how serious are the political parties in pursuing women’s wish to their political participation in the government. Therefore, this study will aim or attempt to establish that it is evident that men still dominate the electoral candidatures in Sarawak.
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This paper examined and compare the level of women in politics and the gender gap in Nigeria and Malaysia. Indeed, the two nations under study are patriarchal in nature where men are giving much power over women. This makes them less active and underrepresented in the political movements in these two countries. This paper is qualitative where related literature was generated through secondary sources of data collection. The materials used for this study include; books, journals, magazines, archives, reports, and newspapers. These documents were systematically reviewed to develop this article. To support the discussion in this study Liberal Feminist theory were used. In explaining this study empowerment theory was used, the theory was propounded by Sara Longwe in 1990. Essentially, the assumption of the theory dwells onwomen empowerment and gender equality. This Theory aims to critically access the level of women empowerment and development. The postulation of the theory is to ensure equal opportunities for both men and women to attain gender parity. This theory will help in abridging gender differences and sustain equal access to education and economy. The study found that women are underrepresented in the politics in Nigeria and Malaysia were most of the political position is being dominated by men over women. In addition, the study observed that women are underrepresented and at the disadvantage not because they cannot perform but rather, they are seen as the weaker sex. Therefore, the study recommended thatwomen should be given distinct attention and equal opportunities as their male counterpart by the various political parties when wishful for any political posts. To encourages women to take part in politics spouses should admire and give women and wife(s), the opportunities to take part and seek for political positions to display their talent and ability for state and national development.
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This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 Unported License, permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Women's Political Participation in Sarawak : Methodology, Fieldwork and Findings
This article critically evaluates an agenda for political participation research aimed at providing empirical answers to questions derived from the women in Sarawak. Among other issues, this paper explores the gender constructs that impede women’s access to the higher political sphere. Indeed, such socially constructed realities often diminish the possibility for women involvement in the process of decision making. Of particular emphasis on this paper, is the facilitating factor that propels women’s entry into political parties. Some of these issues are compromised or became obstacles in women’s opportunity in political life. The empirical questions are drawn together into an integrated agenda for future studies in gender and political participation in Sarawak.