Research Purpose
It has to be reckoned that there has been an ongoing debate that essentially focuses on the position of the two genders in workplace. The fact that the society is governed by the patriarchal parameters and practices goes on to complicate the matter. Often it has been opined that women are on the receiving end of the gender bias and they face discrimination in many spheres of life. One can very well be reminiscent of the struggle of the women of the world society for gaining right to suffrage- something that testifies to the discriminatory standards of the society when it comes to the case of the women. As such, it becomes highly necessary to delve into the societal position of women in comparison to men when it comes to holding a public office. One needs to comprehend if the women are on the receiving end of the patriarchal parameters in the case of holding public office or not. A research in this domain would enable one to gauge the extent of gender disparity or the public perception regarding the matter.
The main purpose of the study in context is to delve into the differences that exist between the two genders with regard to their service in public office. This study is largely related to the status quo of disparity between the status of men and women in the society of the world. The research work aims to point at the unequal status (if found) with proper theoretical framework as well as evidence in the form of survey that would be explicated and analyzed so as to reach a definite conclusion regarding the matter in context of the study. Now, the domain of public office is one of the most crucial ones in the realm of work as it involves the direct interaction with the people or the society at large. As such, the people who are employed in positions of public office have a huge responsibility on their shoulders to carry out their duties with utmost commitment and resolution. Now, it has to be reckoned that it is quite possible that women are on the receiving end of the parameters of the patriarchal society when they serve their role in the public office in comparison to men.
Hypothesis: Women in public office are held to a higher standard than men.
Now, it has to be taken into reckoning that the hypothesis on which the research is based stands in contradiction to the patriarchal societal parameters that aim to subjugate the women of the society under the dominance of the men. In the context of the study that has been mentioned, one has to understand the fact that the hypothesis stands in stark juxtaposition to the societal parameters that are in vague in the present times. A close introspection of the available literature on the subject in context would enable one to have a better idea about the matter.
Literature Review
One can take into consideration the academic work of Marcia Manning Lee titled, “Why Few Women Hold Public Office: Democracy and Sexual Roles” goes on to delve deep into the question relating to the lack of women in public offices in comparison to men. The author goes on to explain that with time, the number of women who are involved in public office have come to be increased to quite an extent. Nonetheless, much less number of women is seen in the public offices in comparison to men in the country of the United States of America. Now, one needs to reckon that the occurrence in the United States can be taken as the representative of the worldwide scenario as the world society is patriarchal in nature, and women are subjugated in one way or the other all over the globe.
Susan Welch and Albert K. Karnig in the article, “Correlates of Female Office Holding in City Politics”, go on to delve into the factors related to the entrance of women into politics and public office. The study conducted by the authors explicates the matter in detail so as to establish the factors that come into play to hinder the attempts by females to gain public office. The study opines that the societal perspective of the superiority of men in comparison to women comes to play a part in ascertaining the lower standard of holding women in such public offices in context. The study talks of the cases of the city councils as well as the mayoral seats in the United States of America. Another important study by Richard L. Fox and Jennifer L. Lawless titled, “Entering the Arena? Gender and the Decision to Run for Office” discusses about the underrepresentation of women in the public offices. The study examines the process through which the men and women emerge as the potential candidates for the public offices. This research work goes on to find that the women have a lower level of political ambition for being in the elective office while they have the same professional credential or personal characteristic in comparison to men. The paper discusses that women are much less likely in comparison to men to get encouraged to run for the public office. Also, women feel that they are less qualified to run for the public office as well. Now, one can very well comprehend that the finding of this paper goes on to point to the fact that women have a perspective about themselves that they are not fit for the public offices that are there in the political system of the nation state.
Another study by Nayda Terkildsen and Leonie Huddy titled, “The Consequences of Gender Stereotypes for Women Candidates at Different Levels and Types of Office”, shows that the voters are highly influenced by the gender stereotypes when they consider the women for the public offices. There is a preference for the males in the higher levels of public office. The paper goes on to attempt to take into consideration how the gender stereotypes that are existent in the world society come into play so as to portray the women as weaker to men for their run for the public offices. It has been explicated that the women come across to be more aggressive and less competent in their capacity in comparison to men. On the other hand, Paula J. Dubeck in her paper titled, “Women and Access to Political Office: a Comparison of Female and Male State Legislators”, goes on to opine that a number of factors come into play to ascertain the importance of women in public offices if their position is compared to that of men of the society. The paper opines that a large number of women are gauged by the societal perspective of femininity and female subjugation. As such, it is very well comprehensible that the women in the society have to toil hard for gaining a good position of public office in the society. Their path is thwarted by many impediments of which the gender stereotype that exists in the society is one of the major ones to take into reckoning.
Shirley Miller Rosenwasser and Norma G. Dean have studied the topic as well penning their findings in the paper titled, “Gender Role and Political Office: Effects of Perceived Masculinity/Femininity of Candidate and Political Office”, where they opine that the women of the society are less represented in the political or public offices of the nation, while they are more represented in the local ones. This points to the innate tendency of subjugation of women and attributing them less importance in more important domains of work. The study attempts to explicate how the underrepresentation of the women in the important public offices is related to their perceived characteristics. It needs to be reckoned that this perception has its roots in the patriarchal parameters of the society. Apart from this, Janet Clark goes on to opine in the article, “Getting There: Women in Political Office”, that there is a discriminatory stand when it comes to seeing women in public offices of the country. The less number of women in the public offices serves to establish the truth behind the claim by the author of the article. The writing also explores how political structure itself serves as the barrier of the women of the society. Thus, one can very well comprehend that the women are on the receiving end in the domain of holding public offices in the society.
Carol Mueller’s article, “Feminism and the New Women in Public Office”, explicates that even if one can find some females in the public offices of the country, they do not pay much attention to the uplifting of the women folks of the society. The paper goes on to suggest that more priority would be given over time if more women are elected in the public offices of the nation. As the women in public offices would be thwarted by the patriarchal parameters and biases, they ought to become more feminist in their approach so as to work further for the uplifting of women in the society. The paper shows how the women in the public offices are faced with the various situations that guide their outlook and decisions. Lisa Baldez opines in her article, “The Pros and Cons of Gender Quota Laws: What Happens When You Kick Men Out and Let Women In?” that Rwanda is the country that has the largest number of women in the public offices. The paper studies the case of the country mentioned so as to gauge the influence of this occurrence on the gender equality of the nation. Nearly 48 percent of the total positions of public office are held by the women there. This clearly shows that there is less prejudice or bias in the country regarding the positioning of women in the contextual positions. Ernestine Friedl in her seminal work, “The Position of Women: Appearance and Reality”, explicates that in a society that would aim at gender equality, the women would be given the positions of power. However, if the positions of power have more males, it is the clear sign of male dominance over the other gender in the society.
Context of Study
In context of the study that is to be conducted, it has to be explicated that the study would be conducted on Indian women. This is one of the most populous countries of the world, and there are existing patterns of gender violence and discrimination in the Indian society. Nonetheless, one can find many powerful women in public offices in the democratic superstructure of India. As such, it would be greatly intriguing to gauge the general perception of women of the country regarding the hypothesis that has been presented toward the inception of the proposal. The research work would include online surveys of women via mail or social media. A questionnaire has been developed so as to gauge their views and opinions regarding the matter in context. The response of the women of the Indian society would lead to the ascertaining of the validity or incorrectness of the hypothesis of this research work. Apart from this, the literature review that has been done in the preceding part of the proposal would work in the process of establishing the theoretical perspective explicating the findings of the research that is being conducted among the women from India. The participants of the survey would be promised confidentiality and their data would remain private so as to ensure their comfort in the process of sharing their opinion in context of the study.
Now, it has to be considered that the proposed study would be a qualitative research. For the pilot study, as many as 6 women were asked to fill a prepared questionnaire with the relevant questions for gauging their psyche and perspective regarding the matter. The entire research would be conducted among women ranging from all the geographical quarters of the country as well as from the middle class, upper middle class women so as to have a better understanding of the perspectives. The questionnaire has been attached to the research proposal for scrutiny. After the pilot study, it was found that the majority of the women feel that their role is constricted to that of childrearing and homemaking. Often, if a woman aspires to pursue her own career and more so that in the domain of holding public office, it is believed that she would need to keep her role as a homemaker as a secondary one. In a country like India, where there is much conservatism that prevails even in the modern day, women are seen as secondary to the men. The men are seen as the stronger ones in relationships and the domain of women is constricted to the household. Although most of the women who were surveyed in the course of the pilot survey opined that economic independence is something that is a welcome thing for them, most did not dare to go to the extent of contesting for an electoral post or public office. This goes on to show the massive influence of the patriarchal parameters that have come to become very much institutionalized in the Indian society in the present times. Indeed, an extensive qualitative analysis of the Indian women would enable one to have a much better understanding of the matter in context. However, as of now, it seems that in the Indian context, the women are not held in higher position when it comes to public offices. There are innumerable impediments that come in their way and they are to overcome all before finding success in the contextual domain.
Questionnaire for Research
If you were given the option to work in a public office would you be comfortable in the role?
How much confident do you feel dealing with people of the society on a day-to-day basis whom you don’t know?
Would you rather opine that any other form of work is easier for you (like managerial work, leadership roles, etc.) in comparison to the work demanded from someone in a public office?
Who is the epitomic figure in the domain of public offices in the Indian context as per your opinion?
Do you think that the reservation for women in the public offices a good idea for involving women? If not, why?
Does the present reservation for women not seem to be demeaning to you, considering the fact that India has reservations for backward castes and minorities?
Do you think you can balance between a public office profile and your role in the family?
Is the role you play in your family complaint with the expectations from females in the Indian society? Explain briefly.
If I say the word ‘Prime Minister’, what is the gender that comes to your mind immediately?
How much important is it in your opinion to abide by the norms of the culture and the society you live in? Would it make you happy?
References
Baldez, Lisa. (2006). The Pros and Cons of Gender Quota Laws: What Happens When
You Kick Men Out and Let Women In? Politics & Gender 1.1: 102-109.
Clark, Janet. (1991). Getting There: Women in Political Office. The Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science 515: 63-76.
Dubeck, Paula J. (2008). Women and Access to Political Office: a Comparison of Female
and Male State Legislators. The Sociological Quarterly 17.1: 42-52.
Fox, Richard L. & Jennifer L. Lawless. (2004). Entering the Arena? Gender and the
Decision to Run for Office. American Journal of Political Science 48.2: 264-280.
Friedl, Ernestine. (1967). The Position of Women: Appearance and Reality.
Anthropological Quarterly 40.3: 97-108.
Huddy, Leonie & Nayda Terkildsen. (1993). The Consequences of Gender Stereotypes
for Women Candidates at Different Levels and Types of Office. Political Research Quarterly 46.3: 503-525.
Lee, Marcia Manning. (1976). Why Few Women Hold Public Office: Democracy and
Sexual Roles. Political Science Quarterly 91.2: 297-314.
Mueller, Carol. (1982). Feminism and the New Women in Public Office. Women &
Politics 2.3: 7-21.
Rosenwasser, Shirley Miller & Norma G. Dean. (1989). Gender Role and Political
Office: Effects of Perceived Masculinity/Femininity of Candidate and Political Office. Psychology of Women Quarterly 13.1: 77-85.
Welch, Susan & Albert K. Karnig. (1979). Correlates of Female Office Holding in City
Politics. The Journal of Politics 41.2: 478-491.
