This past weekend the Winnipeg Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press both wrote stories which said that if Winnipeg’s mayoral candidate Judy Wasylycia- Leis was a man, she would win the upcoming civic election.
Reading the article got me thinking. First of all, I found the articles poorly written with unsubstantiated facts. The authors and sources pretty much made the claim that Judy would win if she wasn’t a woman…but really, no one knows that for sure.
Secondly, I started to think, “Is it true? Is gender the main thing holding Judy back from being as successful as she could be?”
Don’t get me wrong, there are hundreds of successful women in the world who have not
let their gender come between them and their dreams.
Then again, to say that gender plays no role in how reputable a woman is in politics would be a mistake, in my opinion.
I feel like gender is the one minority status that doesn’t work in your favor in politics. For example, if I were to run for mayor, I’m sure the fact that I’m East-Indian would help me. Other East-Indians may vote for me just for that fact alone.
But I’m not sure people would vote for me just because I am a woman. More than
helping me, I think it may work against me.
To say people don’t have stereotypes against women in office is untrue, in my opinion.
Take a look at the Winnipeg Free Press’ articles about the issue.
I want to reiterate that I feel the articles are not well written, they are not backed up with real people, or statistics. But I do think the topic of gender in politics is a good and debatable one.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/gender-may-sink-judy-expert-104231469.html
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Prof-says-gender-working-against-Wasylycia-Leis.html
What do you think?
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I agree that gender can play a huge role in politics (I think that Hilary Clinton faced tons of unreasonable, and sometimes cruel, criticism in the presidential election), but I don't think it plays a role in our civic election.
ReplyDeleteHer gender hasn't been brought up once... until the Free Press and Sun wrote about it. I actually find it quite offensive that they're placing her in this victim role.
I agree that gender definitely plays a role in how female politicians are perceived and treated by their opponents, media, and voters, but that said I feel like Judy's problem lies not in her gender but in her politics. The fact that she is a former NDP MP with fairly left-leaning policies is going to work against her far more than the fact she's a woman. Winnipeg voters are pretty progressive - they've elected a woman before, and the first gay mayor in Canada. So truthfully, while her gender may play SOME role, it's not the only thing working against her.
ReplyDeleteSampert was my prof at U of W. :) She's a really good prof and I think she's right in that we need to analyze the ways that gender is perceived in the media. I just don't know if it applies to this case.
The only person showing gender-based coontempt in this instance is Shannon Sampert. For whatever reason, she has so little faith in the electorate that she assumes we wouldn't vote for a woman on principle, even after electing one already. If there are such people in Winnipeg, there aren't enough of them to sway the election. If I were Judy, I'd tell her to bug off.
ReplyDelete"I feel like gender is the one minority status that doesn’t work in your favor in politics." Not so, sadly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Ellison_(politician)