Women's political representation and voting rights in the nineteenth century

Women's History And Policy Opinion Piece

Historically, the political arena has been a stronghold of the masculine gender. The representation of the feminine gender has been equivalent to extremely minor or even non-existent in many countries and cultures of the world till date. According to statistics, on an average, women make part of less than 15% of the political setup of a country. Such situations question the will and urge of women to act towards a progressive political environment by taking part in the political arena. However, the trend has been on the change as many women are becoming a part of the political arena in a bid to counter the issue of minor representation in the current century and to create a statement that women can be equivalent in standing strong and representing their countries and nations.

Women in Politics in the Nineteenth Century

However, the representation of women in the political arena in the nineteenth century was almost equal to zero. Several women in the United States of America and the United Kingdom remained in high offices and political statures, but they were there due to their men possessing high political offices. Women rights were limited during those times, and similar to many other issues, women did not have the power to vote. This was highly due to the common belief in the society that women were best suited and primarily had to govern the domestic issues of their home and family. Such perception resulted in support for gender inequality in the society, and thus, in the political environment as well.

According to historical statistics, the mid-nineteenth century politics were considered more masculine as compared to the later periods. This was highly influenced by the fact that in America, the constitution restricted voting to only men in a change in the 1830s. This led to movements carried on by women to ensure. This act prevented direct involvement of women in politics through the system of voting. The gender disparity gap amongst the people had widened immensely. To counter this issue, the women in America began to get more involved in campaigns that advocated the rights of women to vote based on the equality of genders and signing off petitions to support their voices and claims. Women were neither allowed to hold any public office, even at the lowest levels. This changed when the Municipal Franchise Act was passed in 1869, which allowed them to hold office at local levels.

The women began to use the method of petitioning to the parliament to extract support for their goals and targets in the political arena. Since they started, these petitions grew more and more and many supporters signed the petitions in favor of the women. These petitions initially began to support the political perspectives of women in the society but eventually led to the petitions that were presented in the parliament to ask for the rights of women to vote on the parliamentary level. Although the involvement was not direct, women found out ways to become part of the political sphere in the nineteenth century.

Women in Politics in the Twentieth Century

The turn of the century brought about a new era for the increase of presence of women on the political stage. In the United States of America, movements by women advocating for the rights of vote for women became more active and prominent. Women activists in 1917 protesting many times against Woodrow Wilson, the then U.S. President, who himself was against women rising to vote. These protests led to arrest of several women activists, but they did not change their stance. Eventually, President Wilson changed his mind and supported the women's cause. In 1920, the U.S. Senate approved the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which allowed women across America the right to vote.

Similar protests launched in the United Kingdom around the same time period. And the results were altogether similar as well. In 1918, the British Parliament passed the Eligibility of Women Act, which allowed women to be elected into the Parliament. In 1928, the Representation of the People Act granted women across the nation voting rights as equal to those as of the men. This was a major milestone achieved by women towards becoming a more active part of the political frame.

Modern Day Policies for Women in Politics

The modern political arena is not unfamiliar to the women power in the political arena and comparatively to the nineteenth and twentieth century's; women have stronger presence as equal opposition to men in politics. Governments properly support the women of their countries to develop themselves to be part of the political system. To strengthen the involvement of women in the political arena, the United Nations has marked six paths which would allow women to effectively strengthen their participation in politics and government. These paths include the development of education and its awareness amongst women, promoting quotas for women to participate in governing bodies, reforming legislations regarding focus on issues of women and children, supporting the women movements at grass root levels to empower woman, raising finance for gender responsive budgets and increasing the presence of gender disaggregated statistics in research.

Conclusion

Evident to the historical events, women in the twenty first century have more rights and power to enter in the political arena as compared to the previous two centuries. However, the numbers of women in parliaments and cabinets is still growing, which represents that although the progress for women as part of the political structures has been slow, it is on the rise and women are becoming more empowered and strong.