Cynthia’s Thoughts: Women, Politics and the Old Boys’ Club
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Loading ...The first woman Member of Parliament in Canada was Agnes Macphail, elected in 1921. Coincidently, this was the first federal election women voted in, after the bill allowing women to vote was passed two years before. In the United States, the first woman elected to the House of Representatives was Jeanette Rankin, a Republican from Montana who was elected just a few years before Ms. Macphail. While there is a relatively long history of women representatives in federal office, the fact of the matter is, politics remains an Old Boys’ Club.
While things are slowly changing, this Old Boys’ Club is taking a very long time to open up. For example, during the Democrat primaries, people were often talking about what Hillary Clinton was wearing, but not Barack Obama. Obama, who is supposed to bring change and level the playing field, still made remarks such as “lipstick on a pig,” placing women on the opposite side from him. Things are no better in Canada, with general election set for October. A few days ago, it was announced that the Green Party will not have a place in the televised debates. In previous elections, the reasoning was because they did not have a single seat in the House of Commons. However, they do have a seat now (the seat wasn’t elected. An MP crossed over), and was, until yesterday, not allowed to participate. While the Green Party will now be involved, it’s pretty obvious that they were originally excluded. Could it be that the “no seat” policy was just the “official reason,” but the underlying reason was also the party’s leader, Elizabeth May, a woman who does not carry the same weight as the male leaders of the Big Four parties (Conservative, Liberal, Bloc Quebecois and NDP)?
It’s really up to the current generation to change things. I realize that some women are reluctant about participating in politics, because of the Old Boys’ Club. They may feel they aren’t going to achieve much even with double the effort. However, if no one does anything, it’ll take years before things change. Do people seriously avoid things because there aren’t many people like them involved? I see lots of job postings with the line “we encourage women, minorities and people with disabilities to apply” or something to that extent. Why? Even if these companies are only paying lip service, at least it’s a good start. We need pioneers in this regard. Without these pioneers, things will never change. And if things do not change, there’ll always be an Old Boys’ Club.
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Great article, gets right to the source of the problem! I am an Applied Economics-Politics student at Queen’s University in Kingston, On and I come across this not so well hidden problem in my field of studies all the time be it in my readings or even in the real world examples used in class. I think the issue pointed out above is a serious one and has been quietly “whined about” for the longest time. I say women have been “reluctant” for long enough and it is the right time to change the Old Boys’ Club into Equal Opportunity Politics!!!