Women in Politics

    

    How far is a women qualified to fulfilled  an important political role?

Nowadays women can have the power of leading a country, when some years ago they only were in charge of cooking, cleaning and taking care of their children. They were not able to vote or express their opinion or take decisions. On the other hand, the change in women’s power improves and advances, slowly but surely, and how now women are qualified to fulfill an important political role. The role of women in politics had been changing with the pass of the time and now it is usual to find women occupying political positions in eastern and western countries, in some cases Heads of State. According to sociologists, during the second half of the twentieth century there has been the biggest transformation in history, and that especially since the decades of the 60s and 70s when the efforts and struggles of women suffragettes initially started in countries as diverse as England, France or Mexico. However, it was not until the late '90s that women began to had important positions in the governments of different ideological and democratic dyes worldwide.

There are a lot of women that we can mention as the pioneers in international politics. I tried to select the ones that I thought as more representatives, beginning with Lydia Chapin Taft who in 1756 was the first legal woman voter in America. Later in 1882 Aletta Jacobs was the first woman in the Netherlands to attempt to register to vote but her application was denied. New Zealand is credited today for being the first nation to grant all women the right to vote in 1893. In 1930 Alexandra Kollontai is appointed Ambassador from the Soviet Union to Sweden, becoming the first woman Ambassador in modern history and in 1966 Indira Gandhi became the first Prime Minister of India. Soong Ching-ling was the first non-royal woman to lead the state of China in 1968.

In 1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She served in that position -- winning re-election in 1983 and in 1987 -- until resigning in 1990. She was called “Iron Woman” because of her strong personality. During her leadership Argentina and Great Britain were in war reclaiming the Malvinas’ (Falklands) sovereignty.

Another outstanding woman is Angela Merkel, who was elected Chancellor of Germany in 2005 doing a great job in her country, making the Germany one of the strongest, if not the strongest, countries in the European Union.

Senator Hillary Clinton was the first woman to ever be considered as a top candidate (or even a serious one) for the US Presidency in 2007, but she lost the Democratic Party Nomination to Senator Barack Obama.

In our country I must mention Eva Duarte de Perón, who was the second wife of Juan Domingo Perón and who did much for women's rights and in 1947 she achieved the law that allowed Argentine women to vote. In 1974 the third wife of Juan Domingo Perón, María Estela (Isabelita) Martínez de Perón succeeded her husband and became the first woman President of Argentina and the first female head of state in the Americas. In 2007 Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was elected President of Argentina and reelected in 2012. She is still governing our country.

Going back to what I have mentioned, women were and are exposed to several barriers that may impact their desire to run for a political career. These barriers are for example sex stereotyping, political socialization, lack of preparation for political activity, and balancing work and family. Now women in government are under-represented in most countries worldwide, in contrast to men. However, women are increasingly being politically elected to be heads of state and government.

In conclusion, I think women are capable as men to lead a country. In my opinion, there were many women who knew how to carry forward the whole country, and they did it without men’s help, may be that with some mistakes but we all make mistakes. From my point of view it’s not an easy task. We must observe the preceding women as an example, learning from their successfulness and their mistakes. We must prepare carefully and thoroughly to finally achieve an equal respect as men have.