Do you have to be a woman to represent women in politics?

By
kchapman
– February 26, 2010

Demographics statistics show that in Britain, women make up just over 50% of the population. Yet in Westminster less than 20% of MPs are women. When broken down by political party this is;

  • Labour Party has 97 women MPs (27% of the party)
  • The Liberal Democrats 9 women MPs (14% of the party)
  • The Conservatives 17 women MPs (9% of the party).

Total women MPs 123 out of 646

Luckily for the Liberal Democrats we have fantastic female MPs and PPCs who help to increase the representation of women in politics such as;

So with this low proportion of women in parliament Liberal Youth Scotland decided to ask the question “Do you have to be a woman to represent women in politics?”

These are some of the answers we received;

An elected representative must be exactly that – representative. They must be able to represent and understand the attitudes and feelings and problems of all their constituents. Naturally these will include people of many ages, races, creeds and of both sexes. But a representative is just one person – of one race, one creed, and one sex. Obviously this can be problematic. How does one represent something one is not?

It’s hardly a novel solution, and more like stating the obvious. A good representative would surely talk to their constituents about their concerns. Thus they would become aware of things that might have escaped them. White representatives might become more aware of racial tension in their area, or male candidates become aware of the difficulties of young single mothers. In such a way, many men may easily qualify themselves to talk about ‘women’s issues’.

You don’t have to be a woman to represent women. It might give you more insight, and I would say it’s an advantage. But it’s certainly not a pre-requisite. I would be very happy to see more men talking about ‘women’s issues’. It shows that they care enough about their female constituents, and take them seriously enough, to inform themselves.

Sophie Bridger
Vice President
Glasgow University Liberal Democrats

I’ve always had a problem with the idea that women can only represent women in politics, and particularly with the all women shortlists introduced by Labour with the advent of ‘Blair’s babes’ and John Swinney’s attempt at reforming the SNP to have women make up 50% of the party’s politicians in 2004.

Personally, I want my MP to be the person his or her party believes can do the best job, whether it is a man, woman or other! I am not dismissing the importance women have in influencing certain issues such as childcare as typically more women stay at home with the children. However to say that only women can represent women is to say that only men can represent men, disabled people can only represent disabled people and diabetics can only represent diabetics! Even if you are a single, unemployed mum being represented by a middle class white man, there are numerous pressure groups out there lobbying on your behalf.

There is a large network of groups in this country representing a vast number of issues and so somewhere, somehow your needs will be being represented. Not only that, but it is a politician’s role to get to know their constituents, understand their lives and help them in whatever way they can. As long as your representative does this, then your views will be heard. A sign of a good politician is someone who has the likeable and can put their constituents at ease, going out of their way to help and understand them. So long as this is achieved, it should be irrelevant who your representative is.

Jenny Marr
President
Aberdeen University Liberal Democrats

Of course not.  Women represent men, and men represent women – all the time, and often very well.  As a constituency MP, I represent my 80,000 constituents to the best of my ability regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, race, background, or what breakfast cereal they eat.  In debates and in scrutinising legislation, however, I inevitably come to things from my own particular perspective – as a young(ish) Scottish woman with the experiences that I have had in my life.

For Parliament to function most effectively and to best represent the country as a whole, it therefore needs a good mix of those different perspectives and experiences.  Since more women MPs have been elected, a wider variety of subjects have made it onto the political agenda – childcare support, violence against women, and carers’ rights to name just three.  Greater diversity strengthens Parliament in terms of its credibility with the public, and also improves the decision-making.  If we had more young MPs maybe minimum wage discrimination, student support and unfair housing benefit rules would not still be seen as minor issues.  If we had more gay MPs maybe we wouldn’t have had to wait so long for vital equality legislation.

We certainly need more women in politics – 1 in 5 MPs will just not do!  I do hope Liberal Youth Scotland will be doing its bit to encourage young Lib Dem women in Scotland to pursue elected politics.

Jo Swinson
MP – for East Dunbartonshire
Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister

With this unequivocal answer is no, you do not have to be a woman to represent women in politics; however to ensure that their views are heard more women are needed in politics.

Now is the time to get involved – Liberal Youth Scotland AGM 2010