Abstract
It is widely reported that gender inequality has been and continuously remains an endemic to
the growth of not just nation states but the international system. Women since time
immemorial have been relegated to the background in terms of political participation. They
are regarded as not strong enough or qualified enough to participate actively in politics in not
just at the local level but also at the international level. The work therefore examined the
participation of women in international politics and the challenges they face.
In order to fulfil the objective of this study and to provide answers to the questions posed by
the topic under research, the primary source of data collection (questionnaire) as well as
secondary sources of data collection such as published books, journals, unpublished thesis
and internet materials were adopted. Thus, 50 structured questionnaires were distributed
randomly to 50 respondents within Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti. however, 28
comp
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Throughout history, women’s political participation has been mainly in the exercise of their
rights, rather than their direct participation in the decision making processes of the societies
to which they belong. This has occurred due to multiple factors, among others, the existence
of a patriarchal order, political parties’ resistance to the entry of women, harassment and
political violence towards them and so on. Over time, women have been relegated to the
background and seen as not good enough, strong enough or qualified enough. According to
Afolabi et al. (2003), women constitute over half of the world?s population and contribute in
vital ways to societal development generally. In most societies of the world, women assume
five key roles: mother, producer, home-manager, community organizer and socio-cultural and
political activists (Afolabi et al, 2003). Of these roles mentioned, the last has been
engendered by women movements attributed to historical gender discrimination and
inequality. Hitherto the emergence of these movements, gender roles was divided between
the male and female sexes. These roles can be broadly classified into the productive and the
reproductive gender roles. Whereas the productive gender roles were mainly associated with
the male sex, reproductive gender roles were exclusive to their female counterparts.
The contribution of women to the social and economic development of societies is also more
than half as compared to that of men by virtue of their dual roles in the productive and
reproductive spheres. Yet their participation in formal political structures and processes,
where decisions regarding the use of societal resources generated by both men and women
are made, remains insignificant. Despite the pronounced commitment of the international
community to gender equality and bridging the gap in the formal political arena as reinforced
by the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
11
(CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform of Action, women are highly marginalized and are
poorly represented in political activities (UNDP Report, 2005). Women have not been given
chances to participate in politics simply because they are women and are regarded as not fit
for politics. The discrimination against women has been in place since time immemorial.
From generation to generation the dogma that women are inferior to men has been passed on.
Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005), the first black woman to serve in the United States Congress
said that “the emotional, sexual and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the
doctor says “it’s a girl” (Shirley Chisholm quotes,www.profeminist.tumblr.com accessed on
22nd December 2014). From the day they are born to the day they die, women are treated like
second class citizens whose opinions do not hold water. Societies in the world have always
been patriarchal in nature and are all about the rule and superiority of men and sadly, the
oppression of women.
Patriarchy can be said to be a social system in which the role of the male as the primary
authority figure is central to social organization. According to Rich (1977:57) patriarchy is a
familial-social, ideological, political system in which men by force, direct pressure or through
ritual, tradition, law and language, customs etiquette, education and the division of labor
determine what part women shall or shall not play in which the female everywhere is
subsumed under the male. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege and is
dependent on female subordination. The concept of Patriarchy was also defined by Walby
(1990:20) as a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress and
exploit women….the use of the term social structures is important here, since it clearly
implies the rejection both of biological determinism and the notion that every individual man
is in a dominant position and every woman in a subordinate one…..patriarchy is composed of
six structures: the patriarchal mode of production, patriarchal relations in paid work ,
patriarchal relations in the state, male violence, patriarchal relations in sexuality and
12
patriarchal relations in cultural institutions…” The patriarchal mode of production refers to the
undervalued work of housewives who are the producing class, while husbands are the
expropriating class. The second level, which describes patriarchal relations in paid work
refers to the fact that traditionally women have been granted worse jobs. The level which is
about patriarchal relations in the state refers to the fact that that the state is patriarchal, racist
and capitalist and it clearly has bias towards patriarchal interests. Male violence constitutes
the fourth structure and explains how men’s violence against women is systematically
endured and tolerated by the state’s refusal to intervene against it. The fifth level describes
patriarchal relations towards sexuality, where patriarchy has decided for us that
heterosexuality is and should be the norm. The sixth level which is about patriarchal relations
in cultural institutions describes the male gaze within various cultural institutions, such as the
media, and how women have been traditionally exhibited via the mass media etcetera
(Walby,1990).
Patriarchy was taken up by Max Weber in order to describe a form of household organization
in which the father dominated an extended network of kinship and controlled the production
of the household. While patriarchy literally means „the rule of the fathers?, its resonance for
feminism is based on the theory put forward by early radical feminists to conceptualize a
general category of male dominance. Patriarchy can therefore be said to be the oppressive
control of women by men.
Most forms of feminism characterize patriarchy as an unjust social system that is unjust to
women. In the feminist theory, the concept of patriarchy often includes all the social
mechanisms that reproduce and exert male dominance over women. Patriarchy is everything
feminism is against. Although anti-feminists however regard patriarchy as a term coined or
an excuse used by feminists to blame men for their problems and shortcomings, a patriarchal
society is usually characterized by the following: lack of property control by women, low
13
value placed on the labor of women, lack of domestic authority of women, lack of malefemale joint participation in warfare, work and community decision making, lack of women’s
indirect influence on decision making, just to mention but a few.
Patriarchy and gender inequality are the orders of the day in the international political system
as women are sidelined or given meager duties to perform. Women are believed to be unable
to handle politics. Women are believed to be meant strictly for childbearing and managing
the home front while men take over what they believe to be the real deals which are politics
or power and leadership. If the situation at home is one of subordination and mistreatment
what then do we expect from the world at large. Myths and traditions have led men to believe
that they are superior to women. Democracy which is supposed to promote the equality of all
has historically served men better than women. As a political system from ancient Greece to
the modern times of the 21st century, it has built on the public private dichotomy and
excluded women from citizenship. Women have been kept outside the public domain of
politics as most of the political thinkers and philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau,
John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and Hegel considered women fit for only domestic roles in the
private sphere and maintained that there was no place for women in politics because of their
suitability in caring roles as mothers and wives. The public- private divide remains the
foundation of the various forms of world democracies (Phillips, 1998; Rai, 2000). In most
societies in the world, female children are regarded as temporary members of the family and
the males the owners or permanent members and the males enjoy what the females are
denied. Right from inception, the male gender is made to feel superior to the female. Thus,
house chores and other activities are burdened on the female who is being trained to be good,
obedient and useful for her future husband as she would sooner or later be married out of the
house. The male child in this case looks at himself as the hero of the house and his sister as
somebody there to wait on him and to fulfil his desires. This mentality develops until he
14
establishes a home of his own and then just like his father sees his wife and daughters as
disposable properties of his. Women are trained to surrender to men in all things as the
society has made them believe that they were created to make the lives of men easier and not
compete with them so it is expected of them to obey in all conditions. If women are treated as
lower class citizens and are not allowed to take decisions in their homes how then will they
be able to take active part in politics and decision making processes of their societies?
Women are made to believe that their natural role and duty is to procreate and serve men, live
at their mercies and so they “dare not” dabble into anything they regard as the sole
prerogative of men like politics. In the Soviet Union some time ago, the situation was worse
to the extent that in order to keep women off from aspiring to the male’s world the feet of
their women from age six were bound in order to present them as ideals for the males (Wang,
2002). Thomas Aquinas (1223-1274) believes that women are defective and accidental, they
are a male gone awry and the result of some weakness in the (father’s) generative power or of
some external factor, like the south wind, which is damp (Scott 1979:89). Martin Luther
(1483-1546) as quoted in Scott (1979) also opines that: if a woman grows weary and at least
dies from childbearing it matters not. Let her only die from bearing, she is there to do it (Scott
1979:91). Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) as quoted in Scott (1979) says: nature intended
women to be our slaves, they are our property we are not theirs, they belong to us just as a
tree that bears fruit belongs to a gardener, what a mad idea, just to demand equality for
women. Women are nothing but machines for producing children (Scott 1979:95) Spiro T.
Agnew also says: I leave you with the words of an old Welsh proverb “Three things are
untameable, fools, women and the sea salt” (Scott 1979:100). Bengali also expresses that a
woman’s heaven is under her husband’s feet (Scott 1979:110). Thus in summary the male
world sees women as: breeders, big talkers, gossips, passive, devious, un-direct, better with
15
children, emotional, irrational, not serious, silly, preoccupied with details, machines, slaves,
property, accidental, etcetera (Legahorn and Parker, 1981:40).
Different religions all over the world have also not helped matters as to women’s place in the
society. Over the years, women have proven to be useful in the development of their societies
and not just in the kitchen. Examples of such women are Dorothy Hodgkin a chemist whose
discoveries led to the structure of penicillin and insulin which have led to significant
improvements in health care, Emily Murphy the first woman magistrate in the British empire.
In 1927 she joined forces with four other Canadian women and challenged an old Canadian
law that said “women should not be counted as persons”. There was also Elizabeth Cady
Stanton a social rights activist and leading figure in the early women’s rights movements, she
was one of the key figures that helped create the early women’s suffrage movements in the
US, she was the reason why American women were given the right to vote (women who
changed the world www.biographyonline.net accessed on 22nd December 2014). There were
and still are also Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf etcetera who have and still are making waves in the international political
system. These are just few out of so many women that have made great impacts in global
politics.
The international political system refers to an environment in which actors (typically states)
interact. The international system consists of several states which are grouped into six
continents namely: Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, North America and South America.
States in theses continents have established alliances with each other, gone to war with one
another and colonized one another over the years. The international system is said to be
anarchic in nature as states just like individuals are after the achievement of their selfish
interests. The international system is a field where power politics is in play.
16
From the local to the global level, women’s leadership and political participation are
restricted. Women are underrated as voters, as well as in leading positions, whether in elected
office, the civil service, the private sector or academia. Despite their proven abilities as
leaders and agents of change and their rights to participate equally in democratic governance,
they are still relegated to the background. Even in the world democracy the United States
gender inequality is still very much in practice. Even in the United Nations, a body that is
supposed to uphold the principles of democracy and equality, there has never been a female
Secretary-General.
The purpose of this thesis is not to advocate for the superiority of women over men, or the
adoption of a matriarchal international political society but to advocate for equal rights of
men and women and also to prove that women just like men are capable of participating
successfully in politics