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4 - Attitudes Towards Women and Political Leadership
- Edited by Netina Tan, McMaster University, Ontario, Meredith L. Weiss, University at Albany, State University of New York
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- Book:
- Putting Women Up
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 18 April 2024
- Print publication:
- 06 February 2024, pp 88-118
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Summary
As explained in the introduction to this volume, political parties play an important role in shaping the demand for women's representation and participation in politics, while gendered cultural values and norms often influence whether women opt to participate in politics. In this chapter, we explore the ways that attitudes and experiences correlate with men and women's sense of political efficacy and their attitudes towards women's participation in politics in Myanmar as of 2019—i.e., before the 2021 coup. Though the 2015 election resulted in a higher proportion of female members of parliament (MPs) being elected (10 per cent) than at any other previous time in the country's history, women's parliamentary representation remained very low compared to other countries in the region and globally (Gender Equality Network 2017, pp. 10–11). To better understand the sources of women's political underrepresentation in Myanmar, we examine the experiences and attitudes that affect political participation through a nationwide survey conducted between September and December 2019. As detailed in Chapter One, our survey asked a total of 2,889 respondents in four states/ regions that cover a range of Myanmar's geographic and demographic characteristics (Mon, Mandalay, Ayeyarwady, and southern Shan) to reflect on their experiences and attitudes about politics and women's participation in politics.
We begin by analysing men and women's attitudes towards gender equality and gender roles. We find that men and women did not differ much in their overall opinions about gender roles in society. However, when we examine potential reasons why men and women held certain opinions about gender equality, we find that age, political knowledge, satisfaction with democracy, and early life experiences, such as witnessing violence against their mother, have different associations with expressions of support for gender equality among men compared to women.
Then, we turn to three attitudes related to women's participation in politics. First, we examine internal political efficacy, which refers to whether someone feels they are able to participate in politics, which is an important determinant of whether they engage in political behaviour, such as voting, contacting a government official, or running for political office (Finkel 1985). If women feel less politically capable of participating in politics than men, they also will be less likely to engage in politics. We find that men in Myanmar were more likely to express political self-efficacy than women, in general.
6 - Navigating Local Politics and Gender
- Edited by Netina Tan, McMaster University, Ontario, Meredith L. Weiss, University at Albany, State University of New York
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- Book:
- Putting Women Up
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 18 April 2024
- Print publication:
- 06 February 2024, pp 143-166
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Summary
Conventional assumptions about women's representation posit that higher proportions of women will be found at local levels of government where barriers to entry are minimal than at higher levels (Mariani 2008; Eder, Fortin-Rittberger, and Kroeber 2016). Indeed, studies on established democracies have found that the number of women in politics decreases when one moves from local to national governments (Vengroff, Nyiri, and Fugiero 2003; Kjaer 2010). This literature has shown that lower-level offices tend to be more open and accessible to women (Brodie 1985; Lovenduski and Norris 1993; Vengroff, Nyiri, and Fugiero 2003). However, evidence of this trend is inconclusive in less established or newer democracies, where limited formal institutions and lack of political party activity might prevent women from entering local politics (Kyed, Harrisson, and McCarthy 2016; Aydogan, Marschall, and Shalaby 2016).
Existing literature on Myanmar highlights structural, cultural, and institutional barriers to women's political participation at all levels of government (Löfving 2011; Latt et al. 2017). Yet, the discrepancy between the percentage of women represented at the local level and at the national and state/region level in Myanmar in the late 2010s challenges the “pyramid” model of women's representation: that women will be better represented closer to the ground. Following the 2015 general election (GE), women made up approximately 13.7 per cent of all elected members of parliament (MPs) in the Union (national) parliament and approximately 12.7 per cent of all MPs in the state/region parliaments across the country (excluding military seats). Meanwhile, women represented less than 1 per cent of elected ward/village tract administrators at the local level across the country. Why was women's representation so low at the local level in Myanmar? Drawing on extensive qualitative evidence from local interviews and focus-group discussions (see Chapter One for details), along with secondary data on local elections and politics, we investigate how women participated in local politics and why so few female local leaders were elected in Myanmar prior to the February 2021 military coup.
Following the coup, the military suspended national and state/ region parliaments. The military has tried to maintain existing local governance arrangements, as stipulated in the 2008 Constitution. However, the democratic opposition rejects that constitution. In most of the country, the junta-controlled local administration has either completely broken down or is severely weak.
The Myanmar people's revolution against the military resulted not only major political change, but also considerable economic, social, and cultural change.
The importance of ideology: the shift to factory production and its effect on women's employment opportunities in the English textile industries, 1760–1850
- PAUL MINOLETTI
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- Journal:
- Continuity and Change / Volume 28 / Issue 1 / May 2013
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 23 April 2013, pp. 121-146
- Print publication:
- May 2013
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This article uses data from the 1833 Factory Inquiry to assess male and female occupations and earnings in factory textile production. These data are contrasted with evidence drawn from various sources on male and female employment in domestic industry. The period from 1760 to 1850 was a time of dramatic change in the nature and location of textile production, with important consequences for women's work. Whilst economic factors explain many of the changes we see, gender ideology had a powerful effect on how the labour market operated, and this was increasingly the case over this period as the organisation of work became more formalised and hierarchical.