According to the World Bank, women make up 49.5 percent of the world’s population, however, there are only 3 countries (Rwanda, Bolivia and Cuba) in the world that have 50 percent or more women in Parliament in single or lower houses. It is important to identify why women don’t get into politics to combat these reasons and lead to the betterment of the whole society. 

Social Barriers

Firstly, the underrepresentation of women is caused by social barriers before their entry into politics. The general populace’s ideas of traditionally feminine characteristics are incompatible with the characteristics that people in positions of powers need to have. This does two things – from their childhood, girls are not encouraged to be leaders as much as boys are. They are instead taught to be docile and homely and puts them at a disadvantage from the very beginning. Parents, even today, bring up their daughters and sons in different ways. Since women are never made to believe that they can suit leadership roles, as well as men, can, they become less likely to enter politics. Moreover, this gender stereotyping leads to another phenomenon – when we eventually do see women in power, it causes people “discomfort” due to the mixture of two supposedly incompatible set of characteristics. This sentiment can be summed up by Alexandra Ocasio Cortez’s quote – “The idea that a woman can be as powerful as a man is something that our society can’t deal with.”

Unequal Starting Points

The traditional differences in the way that men and women are brought up also leads to a difference in their professions. Men are much more likely to have better careers and be in more positions of power. For example, there are less than 5 percent of women who head Fortune 500 companies.  This inequality can be a huge hindrance to entry in politics. Resources and money are important to become potential candidates for parties. There is not just a disparity in material resources, but also immaterial resources, such as time (women have to take on the burden of household responsibilities more), self-confidence (due to the earlier mentioned different upbringing for women which doesn’t help build their image as a leader) and networks. 

Often times political parties recruit their candidates from the corporate world. However, this is a field dominated by men which means that they have the upper hand in forming the right networks. This obviously makes it more likely that more men, rather than women enter politics. Moreover, political gatekeepers tend to be most often men who tend to recruit political candidates via their male-dominated networks.  Therefore, the fact that people who are into politics are mostly men kind of creates a cycle that prohibits women from getting into politics. 

Removal of men from political photographs shows the dire need for more women in politics.

Continuation in the Political Field

The gender stereotyping and the way we differently bring up men and women means that even if, despite these hindrances, a woman does get into politics, continuation is difficult. The discomfort that the voter base has with women in power means that they are held to a different standard to those of men. Female leaders are held more accountable than their male counterparts and the media is much harsher on them.

This uneven punishment is because the media and the people involved subconsciously do not think that women are cut out for politics, which makes them tougher on women in case they fail. The media especially can continue to treat female politicians poorly. The way the media presents female politicians shows us that they are not as worthy to be in power as men are, or that their priorities are supposed to be different – they are asked more questions about their families and personal relationships than male politicians are, and have their personal lives invaded. Their appearances are also given more importance than their substance. Despite all of these, some women still rise to enter politics.

Conclusion

Therefore, it is important for us to promote the representation of women in politics. But simply doing this is not enough – it is also important to promote it in the correct way. When we do commend women in politics, we tend to do it through a narrow scope – we view these achievements as individual efforts of exceptional women, whereas the truth is that there are also numerous parties at play here – women in political party backrooms, riding associations and women’s organizations.  Recognizing the efforts of everyone in promoting women’s participation is the first step to make sure we have more women and a better democracy.

Moreover, the discussion of female representation cannot end here. Caste, economic status, sexual orientation are all factors that affect the experiences of women in politics. Women from lower castes or lower economic strata will have a much harder time becoming politically successful. Similarly, the experience of a trans woman or a non-heterosexual woman is bound to be tougher due to ingrained biases. Representation of women in politics does not only help better women’s issues but leads to a betterment of society as a whole – in areas where Indian panchayats are headed by women, the number of drinking water projects was 62 percent higher than in areas with men-led panchayats. This is why it’s crucial to encourage women in politics and facilitate discourse related to this.

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WAVES OF FEMINISM

The modern wave of Feminism called the Fourth wave which began around 2008, has its roots in the First, Second and the more recent Third Wave of Feminism.          

• First wave Feminism arose in the 19^th century with the aim of bringing about equality as well as ensuring women’s suffrage in the countries of United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada, but however was not limited to only these four countries. In the Indian context. The first wave was set in the backdrop of the 19^th-20^th century, beginning with an attempt to eradicate evils like Sati, child marriage, and introducing ideas of increased literacy among women, allowing widow re-marriage, bringing changes in property laws, etc.
• The Second Wave of Feminism (post-1920) on the other hand, argued for women’s rights to abortion, birth control, and overall control over their own bodies, opposing the patriarchal family’s sexism and sexual control over their bodies. Therefore, it had a more radical element to it, in contrast to the first wave. In India, the second wave retained its radical nature, as women became more engaged in the public scene, and participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement as a part of the Nationalist struggle. Emphasis was placed on women’s education, their livelihood and also led to the founding of many new organisations for the upliftment of women, as a whole.  
• The third wave of feminism emerged in response to the failure of the second wave. It was to challenge the second wave’s idea of ideal feminism which highlighted the struggles of only white upper-middle-class woman. They decided to shift the aim of the movement to ensure that every woman despite its colour and family background is respected and given equal rights. It was not only related to sex and gender but caste and colour too. The concept of lesbianism also came into the forefront during this wave. Earlier lesbians felt sidelined by both women and gay liberation but eventually, it became a part of the mainstream women’s movement. This wave also demanded the right to contraception and birth control. Feminists also fought for social acceptance of female sexual freedom. They demanded sexual equality for the freedom of women. Thus it became a very important wave in shaping the concept of modern feminism.
• The fourth wave is a very recent development within the movement which began in 2008. It is connected with technology. It focuses on issues like sexual abuse, rape, violence against women, body shaming, homo and Tran’s phobia, equal wages, sex work acceptance and most importantly male feminism. It is an ongoing wave that aims at ensuring equality and removing patriarchy and misogyny from the world.

INTERSECTIONAL FEMINISM

One of the most important by-products of the Feminism movement, especially the third and fourth waves, was the emergence of the Intersectional Feminist Theory, which was propounded by a Civil Rights activist called Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw about 30 years ago. According to her, “Different things make different women vulnerable,” which basically sums up the core ideology of the Intersectional Feminists. If anything is for certain in this world, it’s the persistent presence of diversity as different factors like race, caste, class, disability, immigration, belonging to the LGBTQ community, identifying as indigenous people, etc. has an impact on the lives people live.                                                                                                                                                 

The aim of this theory is to bring about an end to the exclusive nature of the Feminism movement of the past and make it inclusive for women of all races, castes, classes, economic standing, etc. For a long period of time in the history of Feminism, the movement mainly focused on middle-class white women and therefore failed to look at the problems of the other sections of women, who were in almost all cases, in a far worse state. This “white feminism” that generalized the entire feminist movement on the basis of the experiences of white women, is however sadly, not just a thing of the past. While intersectional Feminist theory has continued to highlight its problematic aspects over the ages, “white Feminism” can be seen in play (either covertly or overtly) in fields of entertainment, music, sports, and in general workplaces. But women from all over the world gave not failed to speak up over such issues, one such example being when Nicki Minaj, a 37-year-old Black woman rapper and singer, spoke about how almost always, those videos which were nominated in award shows, showed white and slender-bodied women. 

The theory of Intersectional Feminism becomes even more significant in the context of India, as it remains the most diverse nation in the world, and therefore brings into light a number of other factors that collectively result in oppression. One such important factor is Caste, which has been a crucial aspect of Indian society since the very beginning. Evidence suggests that Indian feminism for the longest time mainly focused on Upper caste women. History gives insight as to how education was a privilege only for Brahmin women, and how the education imparted was mainly on how a woman should become a good daughter, wife and mother. Even today, education remains a privilege for those living in poverty, especially the female children in those households, as most often it is the boys who are sent to school. Statistics suggest that about 32.5% of women drop out of schools at the secondary level. 

PSEUDO-FEMINISM

Being a feminist is something to be proud of, but being a pseudo-feminist is a whole different thing. Anyone who calls themselves a feminist knows the difference between feminism and pseudo feminism. Feminism is all about genders having equal rights and opportunities. It aims at achieving equality and equity despite a person’s gender, race, caste and colour. It believes that a woman deserves respect like any other human being. But pseudo feminism accosts that women deserve more respect than any other person. They don’t aim for equality but they want a world ruled by women, and while they seem to want an end to misogyny, whether knowingly or unknowingly, engage in misandry or male-hating. In a world, where feminism is still seen as a detrimental movement, pseudo feminism gives people the upper hand to legitimise the flaws of the whole movement. It somewhere tarnishes and wrecks the idea of the actual feminist movement. A lot of people don’t even know that they are pseudo feminists and they keep claiming themselves as feminists, without even understanding the consequences of their actions. This leads to people misunderstanding the concept of feminism and thus not supporting it. Hence the terms feminism and pseudo feminism are most of the times used interchangeably. Despite the fact that these are two different concepts, people often mistakenly consider it the same. People should have enough knowledge so as they can differentiate between the two and comprehend both the concepts. They should not withdraw their support from the idea of feminism which aims at achieving equality, by perplexing it with pseudo feminism.

CONCLUSION

Feminism is all about ensuring that equality prevails in society regardless of a person’s gender, caste, colour, and sex. It emerged in the late 19th century and is an ongoing movement, which occurred in 4 waves.                                                           

An important aspect of Feminist theory is keeping in mind, privileges that each woman has that another might not. For instance, a white middle-class woman is privileged in ways more than a black middle-class woman. Likewise, a cis-gendered white woman is more privileged than a white woman belonging to the LGBTQ community. Therefore, it’s crucial to recognise, as women, involved in the Feminist movement, our privileges and work effectively so that women who are not as privileged can acquire similar opportunities.                                                              

The concept of Pseudo feminism differs from that of feminism and so both the terms should not be used interchangeably. People should realise the importance of feminists’ movement and understand the struggles and lack of privileges that women hold in their lives. Various feminist movement and principles have evolved over the years, representing different aims and viewpoints. Some theories are criticized while others are actively supported. Despite this, the basic idea of feminism of achieving equality is widely supported and has emerged as a very important movement in the history of many countries.

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