Women in Politics
June 4, 2009 by RootSpaceOnline
by Alexandra Saadeh and Rachel Obeid
Women have been fighting for their rights for ages. The term women's rights refer to “freedoms and entitlements of women and girls of all ages. These rights may or may not be institutionalized, ignored or suppressed by law, local custom, and behavior in a particular society”. The rights that women have been fighting for are those that make them equal to men such as: voting, driving, working, getting fair wages and equal pay, participating in politics, holding public office, owning property, getting education, serving in the military, entering into legal contracts, and having marital, parental and religious rights. The world has been changing technologically as well as socially, yet women are still not equal to men when it comes to many issues. Today more and more women have jobs and earn as much as men; many of them even carry positions higher than their husbands and male colleagues. Yet this isn’t the case in every part of the world; there are still many women that are uneducated and expected to only carry the role of the housewife. There are also some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, where women are not allowed to drive. Although there have been advances in this issue of women rights due to campaigns and openness of mentality, women are still fighting for more. In Lebanon, women have succeeded in earning rights and equality to men in different fields from business to management and others, but where do Lebanese women stand in the political field?
Lebanese women make up 53% of the population in Lebanon, around 2 million women. They have thrived in the private sector and different fields such as; business, medicine, and are seen to participate in the media as presenters and journalists. But their basic rights and representation has been limited in politics. Lebanon is one of the most tolerant Arab countries when dealing with the issue of women rights. This is shown with the percentage of Lebanese women in the labor force which is 28%, where as in Syria it is 25% and 21% in Jordan. Yet when looking at the number of women representing the government politically only 2.8% of the participants are women; this number is much lower when compared to Syria (9.6%) and Jordan (5.4%). “In the 1992 elections, one woman from the north of the country, one from the south, and one from Mount Lebanon (central Lebanon) won parliamentary seats. This was the first time women arrived in parliament and it constituted a fundamental transformation, since women were only present in parliamentary life twice between 1952 and 1962”. Most of the women in Lebanon participating in politics are there because of inheritance of a male family member; father or husband. Examples include former Minister of Industry Leila Solh, daughter of former Lebanese Prime Minister Riad Solh and aunt of the Prince Walid Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia; former Minister of Health Wafaa Hamza, a Shiite close to the Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri; Nayla Moawad widow of former president Rene Moawad who was the Social Affairs minister in the former government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora; Nayla Tueini, daughter of Gibran Tueni who was the former editor and publisher of the mass circulation and depute of the Greek Orthodox in the parliament; and Solange Gemayel widow of former president Bachir Gemayel.
"We have this saying in Lebanon that the only women who make it to parliament are those in black because they reached their positions due to the death of a family member," journalism student at Lebanese University Sahar Charara told MENASSAT.
To better understand the issue of the limited numbers of women in the parliament, we have conducted a survey which was distributed to 50 women above the age of 21. We wanted to see what women themselves thought about women’s rights and women in power.
What was interesting to see was that only 43% of these women were aware with whom the 6 Lebanese women in the parliament were allied. This brings us to the fact that if Lebanese were to become more open about women’s right it should start with the Lebanese women themselves. If they are not aware of the details on this issue than how can there be a change?
Moving on to the questions about why there are only 6 women versus 120 men; most of the respondents blamed this on the fact that men have been more dominant in this society; they have more control and are more trusted than women because of a patriarchal tradition. They said that women are less valued; they are thought to be incompetent and are looked at as weaker. They are generally responsible for house care and educating children. Another interesting and common result was that traditions and mentality are to blame for the lack of equality between men and women. This is also tied with the idea that elements of our culture has led to discrimination against women and positioned them as housewives and mothers. There is an idea that women are seen to value different things outside the political world. Another point to discuss in the results is about why the only women in politics are those that have inherited the position. Some women said that it is a lot easier for a woman to enter this field with the help and background of a male figure. This means that Lebanese women see themselves as dependent on men and inferior to men. The results also show that Lebanese women only think that these women in politics are where they are to maintain the political power of their father or husband.
The last point about this survey was the effect of media on the perception of women in politics. The results show that media can affect perceptions regarding various topics and can help change the attitudes of Lebanese towards women; yet most of what we see in advertisements is women characterized as sex symbols. The media should improve women’s image in society instead of using them as figures to sell.
After analyzing what the Lebanese women have to say about this issue, it is important to get opinions from women in power. We have conducted interviews with two political figures, and one woman in power at Notre Dame University.
First, we have interviewed Solange Gemayel widow of former president Bachir Gemayel in order to know her opinion about women in politics. She told us that having a few number of women in the parliament is related to the social issues rather than the political issues because Lebanon went through a lot during these past 50 years which didn’t encourage women to enter politics. In her opinion, Lebanese women can definitely succeed in politics just like other fields like education, economics, management… The first concern of Lebanese women is to take care of her family and children but there are several women who tried to enter the parliament since the 60’s but they didn’t win and that’s because of the difficult political situation and because of 30 years of unsecured situation. Every country needs new faces and that means renovation because we can’t live in the past and we should address the future with a new mentality. The Lebanese society will accept having a woman representative because it already accepts having a woman as a teacher, a manager of a bank, a lawyer, a judge… She also hopes that Lebanon will have a woman president; just like she reached very high positions she could also be a president. We have in the world several examples: Margaret Thatcher, Andrea Ghandi, Angela Marker and others… Why not in Lebanon?
Second, we have interviewed Gilberte Zouein, depute of Keserwan region who thinks that women do not dare to be politicians and that explains why we don’t have a lot of women in the parliament. She adds that if women cannot succeed in politics she personally wouldn’t have achieved what she has already achieved. To answer the inheritance issue, she said that men are dominant in our society and until today nobody accepts the idea of having a woman in politics despite her success in social and economical fields. She also adds that she supports young generations and she thinks that we need them in the parliament to have a better country. In her opinion, the Lebanese society will accept a woman representative but it’s too early to think about having a woman president; let her enter politics and represent her country and then will talk about presidency.
Third, we have interviewed the Dean of the faculty of humanities at Notre Dame University who is a woman in power. She was the first woman to be a chair person before being appointed Dean of Faculty. She is a woman in power in the educational field. When asked questions about women in politics and in power in Lebanon, she brought up very interesting points. She started off by pointing out that in Lebanon there is no rule which obliges the presence of women in politics, whereas in the US there is the law of parity which makes it illegal not to appoint a certain number of women to the parliament. She also blamed the unequal number of women and men in politics on culture and the idea that it does not encourage women to gain power. In her field gender has not worked against her although she does mention that when she has a meeting in which she has to fight she wear her “blue suit with her white shirt and not so much jewelry”. This is not because she doesn’t want to express her femininity but she wants to be on their professional level. This bring us to the idea that women have to work much harder than men to reach to a powerful position; they have to constantly prove that they deserve their position and belong there. She believes that women are capable of the exact same things as men, just like the Minister of Defense in Spain is a women, yet they have to be the ones to start that change. The last point that was brought up that led to an interesting idea was Lebanese women’s’ right to nationalize. Lebanese women that are married to foreigners cannot give their children the Lebanese nationality. The main reason for this law is the political issue of Lebanese women married to Palestinians and Syrians because this could “shake up” the sectarian demographics of this country. Feminist groups in Lebanon such as the CRTDA and “Right to Nationalize” campaign are fighting to amend this law because being able to nationalize is a human right.
Media has a great impact on the way people think and can change people’s minds about critical issues. The media can be seen as only a mirror of the realities in society or it can be seen as shaping and affecting society. So the way the media addresses and covers the topic of women’s rights can also help in understanding how society perceives this issue. An article written by Manal Chaaya was published in Nahar Ash-Shabab, on Thursday 30th March 2009, entitled “Women in Politics Candidates Chose the Battle”. This article talks about 11 female candidates that are running in the 2009 elections. Some of them decided their political programs; others have abandoned their positions for a male candidate. Only one political program handled the issue of women’s rights and children’s rights to have their mother’s last name where as others talked about different issues. The issue of women in politics is a very important issue, because maybe we will find in women candidates, characteristics that we can’t find in men. The article described all different women candidates, their education and their beliefs. Some of the main points of the 11 candidates are:
* Ibtissam Saadi believes that women should run in the elections because they complement men in politics and support them
* Bahia Al Hariri preferred not to talk about this issue, her office provided the newspaper with her resume.
* Gilberte Zouein is still running for the elections according to the same principles.
* Regina Kantara is against the verbal and physical violence in the family and to let the mother give her identity to her kids.
* Reem Saadoun Hamade abandoned her position as a candidate even though she decided on her political program.
* Sitrida Geagea thinks that if it wasn’t for her husbands’ she couldn’t run for the elections that easily. She’s working not only on the independence of Lebanon but also on the family violence.
* Makda Braidy Rizk is running for the first time and she believes that there is no difference between men and women. And also those women have several characteristics that help them have an important role in politics especially that they succeeded in all different fields.
* Nayla Tueini believes in Lebanon and is running in the elections to achieve her father’s dreams. She doesn’t believe in inheritance in the elections, for her it only happens naturally not in the field of politics.
* Norma El Ferezli ran alone in 2000 and didn’t win because there was a huge men wave against her. In 2005, she didn’t run in the elections because she couldn’t get in any list. This year, El Ferezli is hoping to be in the 14th of March list and to win in this elections.
* Ghada Al Dandachi and Ghinwa Jaloul were not available for the interview with the newspaper.
The number of Lebanese women in politics is not only small when compared with countries in the Middle East, but when compared with the United States the difference is large. Women in the US first entered the political field in 1872 when Victoria Woodhull ran for president of the United States and the first women that was elected to the US house of representatives was Jeannette Rankin in 1917. The most significant year for women in politics was 1992 when 24 new women were elected to the House of Representatives, and five new women became senators. Today there are 68 women serving in the House of Representatives and 14 women in the Senate. A few examples include Tammy Baldwin, Nydia Velazquez, Marilyn Musgrave, and Mary Bono, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, etc. In Lebanon women have participated and entered the parliament, yet none have run for president, whereas in the US Hillary Clinton ran for president in 2008. Hillary Clinton is important to mention when dealing with this topic of women in politics. She is the 67th US Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2008 election. She ran for presidency with confidence. She said: “I’m in, and I’m in to win.” No woman has ever been nominated by a major part for President of the US.
From the previously mentioned facts, it is obvious that American women do play an important role in politics. This acceptance of women in politics is shown through the media. We showed how the media in Lebanon approaches this issue when we discussed the article in the newspaper and the Lebanese advertisements. How do the media portray women and their roles in power? A very good example of this is the popular television series 24. In one of the seasons of this show, a woman plays the role of president of the US. This demonstrates that Americans are capable of accepting a woman to represent them politically, and believe that she can excel in this important position just as much as men. Although the media can frame situations and affect how people think, a big part of the media is a reflection of what already exists in the society. So in order for it to be okay for a woman to act as a president in such a popular show, then in society it must be acceptable.
Lebanon is a country with strong traditions and a rich culture. Although people are changing and becoming more “open-minded”, we still lag behind when it comes to women rights as well as the image and perception of the roles that should be appointed to women. This issue of women in power has been changing drastically over the years, and although the US is far more advanced than Lebanon, there are still less women in the parliament than men. There is still no complete equality between men and women. A good example was given in the interview with the Dean of NDU about Hilary Clinton and President Barak Obama. They both had a discriminative issue working against them, she had gender while he had race. Yet when Hilary Clinton was spoken about in the media, there was always a mention that she was a wife and a mother of two. Comments were always made about her clothing while no one really took so much time to analyze what President Obama wore and not so much emphasis was placed on the fact that he was a husband and father. The idea here is that there is still inequality among men and women and the main reason why it is so much more drastic in Lebanon is because not enough women are voicing their opinions, let alone aware of the issue as so important. Many Lebanese women believe that this is their role in society and accept it without question. For us to have a woman as a president some day we need women to step up, prove themselves and believe that they are just as powerful as men.
Extract published in the newspaper distributed with An-Nahar and Al-Akhbar on Thursday, June 4th 2009.
