Men are against women in politics
Times Colonist -- Victoria
April 18, 2007
Letters -- By: Ken Dwernychuk

Janet Bagnall ("Women in Parliament is a matter of simple justice," April 15) is being polite when she suggests that injustice is the reason for the small percentage of women in Canadian politics.

Women are absent from politics because men don't want them there.

Brigette Pellerin ("Women in politics: What's the fuss?") acknowledges this truth when she claims that in order for women to be a part of the system they need to "get out there and fight like a man."

In other words, women with political aspirations would do well if they left their feminine side at home.

Unfortunately, the presence of politically transgendered women making their way through the world of politics provides great optics (notice that most photo coverage of Prime Minister Stephen Harper shows him surrounded by female party members), but it fails to deal with the injustice that keeps women out of politics.

If men, particularly those in power, truly wanted to legitimize the political institution and restore society's faith in democracy, they would remove economic and family constraints placed on women: Child care would be adequately subsidized and the value of women's labour would be financially acknowledged.

Unfortunately, federally and provincially, we are witnessing the opposite. It's no accident that the structure and amount of financial support for women with children is designed to keep them out of politics, just as it's no accident that political inequality mirrors the nature of male/female relationships in society.