Deeds Not Words - Guest Post

#Deeds

In the grand scheme of things, women have come a long way in politics.  Less than a hundred years ago, women couldn't even vote in the UK.  Now a quarter of all MPs in the House of Commons are women.  But, hang on – shouldn't that be half?

Politics is unquestionably a male-dominated world.  From the top echelons down, women are woefully underrepresented.  When the Labour party introduced all-women shortlists to redress the balance, the number of female MPs doubled from 60 to 120 in the 1997 General Election.  However, despite these advancements, whenever a woman reaches a position in power, her performance is judged against her gender in a way that no man’s would ever be.  Take for instance Julia Gillard, who as Prime Minister of Australia had to endure the most vicious of sexism.  Her attack on the leader of the opposition was widely praised, but at the same time it highlights the hurdles that women have to leap in order to be taken seriously in politics.  Even grassroots political activism is somehow seen as unfeminine, not fitting with society’s view of the things a woman should be interested in.  (Women – Know Your Limits!).  Representation at all levels should be evenly spread across both genders and this is best achieved through the prominence of female politicians.  As Chelsea Clinton, who has joined her mother in campaigning for women’s rights, said: “it’s really hard to imagine yourself as something you don’t see.”

Here are a few women who have shattered the ultimate glass ceiling, and done a damn fine job of it too, providing inspiration for women across the world.

Emily Pankhurst

Perhaps one of the most famous women in history, Emmeline Pankhurst was born into a radical political family in 1858 and formed the Women’s Franchise League in 1889 with her husband Richard, a supporter of women’s rights.  However, frustrated by the lack of progress being made on women’s suffrage, Pankhurst formed the more militant Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1903, whose members, commonly known as the suffragettes, shocked society and male politicians with their violence and hunger strikes.  Women over 30 were given the vote in 1918, and were finally granted equal voting rights in 1928, shortly before Pankhurst died.  Whilst there is some debate over the impact of Pankhurst’s individual contribution to the movement, specifically whether her militancy hindered or helped advance the cause of women’s suffrage in Britain, she has become synonymous with fighting for women’s rights and given inspiration to oppressed women around the world.  She has a statue in Victoria Park Gardens, was placed Number 27 on a list of most important Britons and was named as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most important people of the twentieth century.  Read an interesting collection of articles and speeches on  and by Pankhurst here.

Benazir Bhutto

The first female leader of a Muslim country, Benazir Bhutto, known as B.B., was Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996.  However, she is woman who left a controversial legacy.  Admired for her charisma and political savvy, she was also criticised for her deregulation of the financial sector, which many cite as the cause of Pakistan’s recession of the mid-nineties, and was plagued by corruption charges.  History may treat her more kindly than her record in office deserves, but there is no doubt that Bhutto raised the profile of women in a male-dominated society and paved the way for the acceptance of women in Pakistani politics.

Angela Merkel

Forbes currently ranks German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the second most powerful person in the world, second only to the President of the United States and the highest ever ranking for a woman.  Whether or not you agree with how she has achieved it, Merkel has to be given enormous credit for overseeing one of the world’s most stable economies during rocky financial times.  She also wields considerable influence within the European Union and the G8.  Trained as a chemist, Merkel entered politics following the reunification of Germany in 1989, became the first female leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 2000 and was elected the first female Chancellor of Germany in 2005, a position she has held ever since.  Germans will go to the polls in September to decide whether Merkel will remain as Chancellor, but her handling of the economy has boosted her popularity and polls suggest that the CDU will win, even if with a minority.  Merkel is a strong, steady head of state, avoiding the criticism often levelled at female leaders, and demonstrates that it is possible to lead a strong economy without your gender being added into the equation.

Hilary Clinton

As visible women go, they don’t get much more so than Hilary Clinton.  Overshadowed at times by her husband, since leaving the White House, Hilary Clinton has forged her own career in politics.  She served as Senator for New York from 2001-2009 (the state’s first female senator) and was a leading candidate for the US Presidency in 2008, winning more primaries and delegates than any other female candidate in history.  But for the competition of a charismatic African-American, America could have seen its first female president.  Instead, Clinton was appointed as Obama’s Secretary of State for his first term, one of the most prestigious positions in the US Government.  Until she stepped down in December 2012, she was the most widely-travelled secretary of state and has championed women’s rights around the world.  Although she has stated that she does not want to run for office again, she is currently the overwhelming favourite amongst Democrats for the 2016 nomination.  Clinton may just have managed to transcend gender in order to be viewed as a politician first and a woman second.

Whilst we need these high profile women to act as role models, there are many more less well-known women who have made hugely significant contributions to politics and to the advancement of women in the political sphere.  Below is just a small selection of these women.

Millicent Garrett Fawcett

Millicent Garrett Fawcett’s contribution to women’s suffrage in the UK is often overshadowed by the more visible actions of Emily Pankhurst and the suffragettes.  Fawcett was a suffragist, rather than a suffragette, who believed that women would gain the vote through constitutional change and that violence would only serve to fuel the stereotype of women as irrational and hysterical posited by men as evidence to deny them the vote.  Fawcett was the seventh of ten high-achieving Garett children (her older sister Elizabeth was the first female doctor).  Fawcett was passionate about furthering women’s opportunities throughout the whole of society, especially in higher education and in repealing the Contagious Diseases Act, which legislated for horrendous double standards.  A pacifist, Fawcett led a strong and well-reasoned campaign, and the inscription on her and her husband Henry’s memorial in Westminster Abbey credits her with winning “citizenship for women.”  (Listen to an interesting Radio 4 programme on Fawcett here.)

Mary Robinson

Educated at Trinity College, Dublin and Harvard Law School, Mary Robinson entered politics in 1979, and in 1990 became the first female President of the Republic of Ireland.  She was an immensely popular President and revitalised a position generally viewed as little more than a figurehead.  She gave a voice to groups who had traditionally been excluded from politics, such as LGBT organisations, made unprecedented visits to Britain and Northern Ireland and brought international focus to Somalia and Rwanda, being the first head of state to visit the latter state following the 1994 genocide.  She fought for women’s rights during her time in office, and has continued to do so since resigning as President in 1997.  After her resignation, Robinson was appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a post she held from 1997-2002, and now runs the Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice, a centre for education and advocacy of sustainable development in the world’s poorest countries.  She co-founded the Council of Women World Leaders, a network that mobilises women leaders at the highest levels to promote democracy and gender equality.

Gro Harlem Brundtland

Trained as a medical doctor, Gro Harlem Brundtland began her political career in Norway’s Ministry of Health, and served as the country’s Prime Minister on three separate occasions - in 1981, 1986-89 and 1990-96.  She is Norway’s first, and to date, only female prime minister.  Brundtland was enrolled as a member of Norway’s Labour Party by her father at the age of 7, and has remained a member ever since.  Brundtland has forged an important international career as well.  In 1983, she was asked by the UN Secretary-General to establish the World Commission on Environment and Development, now known as the Brundtland Commission.  After leaving office as Norway’s PM, she served as Director of the World Health Organisation (1998-2003), where she spearheaded the movement to abolish cigarette smoking.  She is currently UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Envoy on Climate Change and, like Mary Robinson, is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders.

Alexandra Kollontai

Born in 1872 in St Petersburg, Alexandra Kollontai was fascinated by history and politics from a young age, and became interested in radical Marxism whilst studying at the University of Zurich.  In 1917, learning of the Tsar’s abdication, Kollontai returned to Russia to join the revolutionary movement.  The first female cabinet minister in the world, Kollontai became People’s Commissar for Social Welfare and, in the Marxist tradition, was an advocate of women’s equality and fought hard on the issues of female education and equal working rights.  She also promoted the concept of free love, believing that the traditional institution of marriage resulted in the exploitation of women and that the only way to achieve true equality was to eliminate bourgeois attitudes towards sexuality.  Dying in 1952, Kollontai remains an icon of gender equality to this day. 

There are many more inspirational women who have successfully conquered stereotypes and made invaluable contributions to politics.  It was a challenge to whittle it down to the few I’ve chosen, and the list goes on and on but it should be much longer.  More strong women like those above are needed as role models in politics, across the whole political spectrum, so that women’s performances as leaders are judged on the same terms as men’s.