Women in Politics

By Dwyer Astaphan

A new group was formed recently in St. Kitts.
Its mission is to see women take a more active part in leading our nation, especially in politics.
It is seeking to “promote equality in politics’.
A few days ago, I spoke briefly with one of its driving forces, a young woman named Asha De Souza.
She is a student at the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College.
She said that going back to slavery times, the roles of women have been pretty much restricted to bearing and nurturing children, attending to domestic tasks, and, for the most part, holding down positions that are subordinate to men.
And she argued that with all of the developments that have taken place over the centuries, women in St. Kitts & Nevis have still not taken their rightful place of leadership of the nation’s political institutions (including the political parties and the three branches of Government, namely, the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary).
Although her focus was mainly in the area of politics, I presumed that she saw political leadership going hand in hand with leadership in other areas.
And, let’s be clear. She was not suggesting that there would be no place for men in her group’s vision. Of course, not.
What she was saying was that there is a gender imbalance at the top.
An imbalance which does not, and cannot, mean that men are more capable or qualified than women in these areas. An imbalance which,  as a matter of fact, militates against present trends in which we see women actually outperforming men. And an imbalance  which needs to be corrected.
There was no anger or bitterness at all in her voice. Just a determination to be a change agent in this mission on which her group has embarked.
And even if there was anger or bitterness, I would have understood.
Because the simple and raw truth is that women, who are as talented and able as men, and whose numbers are at least the equal of men in the general population, are nevertheless grossly outnumbered at the top of the political totem pole in our nation.
And that is enough to make a person angry.
Angry perhaps at the political establishment if indeed it  has conducted itself as a select, chauvinistic ’men’s club’. Or angry at the body politic who may not have yet fully come to terms with women in large, or even equal, numbers, taking up top political positions in the nation, or angry at women themselves who might have failed to take the bold step and press to the top.
But while Ms. De Souza’s arguments suggested to me that she might have reflected on these things, she was not angry.
Just, as I said, determined to change things.
And as I listened to her, I reflected on something Ted Turner, the founder of CNN Television Network, had said about American male politicians.
He had said, and not totally in jest, that if he had to power to make laws he would prohibit men from running for public office for the next hundred years, because they had wrecked American politics for the past two hundred years, and it was now time for the women to take over and tidy up things.
Now here in our Federation, as is the case nearly everywhere else in the world today, females are outperforming males in parenting, in academia, in the churches, in the social organizations, and, yes, in the workplace.
Yet while women in the USA, according to a recent poll, now occupy 50.8% of managerial and administrative positions in the private sector, as well as being increasingly well represented in political life at all levels, and are now on the doorstep of the White House itself, women in St. Kitts & Nevis are still lagging behind men in both the private and public sectors.
So it would be logical for women now to say that enough is enough and that it is time for the age-old leadership imbalance to be corrected.
But, you might ask, what has been keeping women back?
Many, if not most, of them are afraid of the bare and cruel exposure, the abuse, and the disrespect that come with politics.
Many, if not most, of them are very uncomfortable with, even terrified by, the testosterone and machismo that pervade our politics.
Many prefer to concentrate on themselves, their careers and their families rather than having to face the unending stress which comes with the job, especially in Government.
Not that women do not already play a role in our politics. They play a big role.
Indeed, theirs is a role without which the politics would collapse.
They are generally more faithful and patient. They work hard for the cause. They raise funds. They organize. They serve on committees. They administer and manage. They plan. They cook. They sell. They give. They canvass in the homes, the alleys, the by-ways and the highways, and so on.
Also, they tend to know what’s happening on the ground, and most critically, they head up most households.
In effect, therefore, they do just about everything in the political process except take positions at the highest levels in proportion to their numbers in the general population.
Which is what Ms. De Souza’s group is aiming to correct.
And I welcome any initiative to bring further balance, equity, creativity, talent and integrity to the political process.
There is too much testosterone in it and a good steady, balancing dose of estrogen is needed.
Quite the opposite of that other critical area of woeful imbalance in our society, namely the home, where we see an awful lot of estrogen and little or no testosterone, given the fact that so many of our men are not part of the homes in which their children are raised.
And perhaps we should reflect on this ‘home/hormone’ thing for a minute.
I have done so and I have concluded, though perhaps not definitively, that for the most part, boy children are at greater risk of turning towards antisocial behaviour when they grow up in homes that are short on adult testosterone.
The absence of that adult testosterone encourages them to ‘force man’ and they do so in a vacuum, without the adult testosterone there to ‘balance’ and steady them.
There can be few things quite as harmful as a young male increasing his testosterone levels without a seasoned and stable testosterone carrier being there with him to show him how to manage and use his testosterone.
The lack of a ‘resident’ carrier of that much-needed adult testosterone also has a negative impact on the mothers, who need the carriers around to provide certain other critical balances in the partner and parental relationships in the home.
Crazy idea? Maybe.
And it may well be that the at-best limited exposure to testosterone in the home also renders both mothers and daughters ill-prepared and afraid to challenge it and manage the testosterone at the highest levels of leadership in the private and public sectors.
Who the heck knows?
However, Ms. Asha De Souza does not come across as a female who is ill-prepared or afraid.
And she is directing her and her group’s energies towards their mission of getting women to take on, and deal with, the testosterone, so that they might assume their rightful place in the political pantheon of  this nation.
Thus far, we have seen five women in Parliament in this country, namely, Ada Mae Edwards and Marcella Liburd as House Speakers (the latter being the present incumbent), Constance Mitcham and Jacinth Henry-Martin as elected Ministers, and Ann Wigley as a Senator.
In the general elections of 2004, Mrs. Jonelle Rawlins-Drew challenged the Prime Minister for his seat in Constituency 6.
And women are making themselves available as candidates for the upcoming elections due by 2009.
In the meanwhile, though the numbers have not been great in the past, women have already made significant contributions in the political leadership of our region.
Barbados, Bahamas, Belize and Grenada have had women Governors-General in the persons of Nita Barrow, Ivy Dumont, Minita Gordon and Hilda Bynoe respectively.
The Netherlands Antilles have contributed three Prime Ministers (Maria Liberta Peters, Susanne Romer and Myrna Godett), Haita has had one Prime Minister(Claudette Werleigh),Bermuda has had two Premiers(Pamela Gordon and Jennifer Smith), Dominica (Eugenia Charles) and Jamaica(Portia Simpson-Miller) have given us two Prime Ministers and Guyana a  President (Janet Jagan), while St. Maarten’s present Leader of Government is Sarah Wescott-Williams, and Barbados’ last two Deputy Prime Ministers have been Billie Miller and Mia Mottley.
In addition, a number of women have also been elected or nominated to their respective Parliaments and have served as Legislators and Ministers throughout the region, while still others have held high-level positions in political parties.
As well, there are several female world leaders today, following in the footsteps of Indira Ghandi(India), Golda Meir(Israel),Sirimavo Bandaranika (Sri Lanka),Isabel peron(Argentina), the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher(UK), Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan) who is trying to make a comeback, Maria Aquino (Philippines), Dame Eugenia Charles(Dominica),Helen Clark(New Zealand), Gro Harlem Brundilandt(Norway), Megawati Sukarnoputri (Indonesia),Violeta Chamorro(Nicaragua), and others.
Presently Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Philippines’ President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet, Finland’s President Tarja Halonen, Canada’s Governor-General Michelle Jean, and Argentina’s brand new President Cristina Fernandez Kirchner, are some who top the present global list.
But, according to Ms. Asha De Souza and her group, much more work needs to be done, and they are not leaving things to chance, or to men. They are taking matters into their own hands.
I wish them all the best.
Until Next Time,
Plenty Peace.