Women in Politics In Government, in Political Parties, and in the Electoral Process
Commentators
Consuelo Botello, PAN Began by explaining how difficult it was for women to access the political system -- because of this difficulty, it is hard for women to increase their participation in politics.
In terms of women as political actors, Botello cautioned that it is not so important if women or men are in power, if they are not true public servants. It does not matter if women assume power, if they follow the old system. Throughout history, women have shown their capacity for leadership even though few women have high- level positions; nonetheless, there are many women in organizations that truly help communities.
A major problem for women in politics women's own limitations. Apart from the sexism and machista structure in Mexico, women limit themselves because the machista culture has taught them to feel guilty if they leave their home to assume a career in politics. Female politicians have to be very smart to be able to budget their time between family and public life. Women have influence in the home, regardless of their education. This is why it is important to educate their children about equality between the genders which will eventually influence political life in the future.
Ana Lilia Cepeda, Mujeres en Lucha por la Democracia I would like to speak as a member of Mujeres en la Lucha por la Democracia. Why do we want more women in politics if they act like men? This question speaks to two important variables in Mexican politics the anti-democratic polity and machismo
Women already know what they want -- democracy and equality. We are here to talk about how we are going to achieve it. The women's movement has not been able to define democracy and equality. Equally, it is difficult to be non-partisan and be effective. That is why I disagreed with Marta Lama's discussion of "no-lugar". It is very difficult for women to reach "no-lugar".
I have found that the women's groups in Mexico are the inverse than the women's groups in the U.S. Mexican women are in the grassroots. The transition to democracy gives us the ability to solve gender problems -- a necessary condition for equality. We need to critique ourselves. All of the women present at this conference are in the elite, in the top levels of power, but we need to do more for women at the community level.
When Mujeres en la Lucha por la Democracia started in 1988, our first forum was about Mexico's external debt, but the media reported the event in the social and culture pages. The press is an important institution and women need to be more involved in the press. I encourage reform in the area of communications.
Amalia García, PRD I would like to begin by prefacing a quote that I read once -- "Parece que las mujeres vienen del continente del silencio..." Pero ahora, las mujeres están recuperando espacio.
Years ago, it would have been impossible to debate gender issues, but now we can. The difference is that now women are more visible and we discuss who we are, where we are, and what we want. This forum allows us the opportunity to know how we can have a greater impact. I agree that we need to be in decision-making areas. Gender issues are universal and we need to incorporate them in the public arena. We want to be in positions of power, but not like men and like some women who do not take gender into account. We want to make sure that democracy and equality mean more than they mean now in order to lead our country down a new road.
We also need to analyze other ways to increase women's participation in politics. Quotas are a good start, but other methods need to be found. Do quotas make women more visible? There are discrepancies between men and women. Men are stronger because they have dominated. To promote and influence change, we need to recognize all of the abilities that everyone has.
We need to find different ways of politicking. Politics has to be a collective venture. It cannot be the monopoly of the few. We are in an era of change and we can have an impact. Politics needs ethics. We need to use TV and the media because they have enormous power. Even in areas where people are not very well educated, everyone has a TV. We need to change the rules of the game. We need to find a way to check our officials. We need new parties that put people first.
Lorena Martínez, PRI We can see that in all levels of politics women have increased their participation, especially in the political parties. The PRI has had a history of women's organizations. Even though these organizations have been evolving through the years, they have not achieved as many gains as they would have wanted when you take into account that 58% of the PRI are women. The PRI now has a new strategy for increasing women's participation and redefining the party's goals, starting with María de los Angeles Moreno and down to the municipal level where women are just as important. The PRI has doubled its percentage of elected women in the last election.
We can see that even though we are all from different parties, we have many common themes and goals. Women want to be in positions of power in order to give power a more human touch and a more feminine vision. These are vital times for the party and we are dedicated to change.
Ana Rosa Payán, PAN I have a different vision about women. My question is How far do we want to go? We have advanced as much as we have wanted to. There are few women in politics because many women choose to stay with their families. Unfortunately, as in my case, most women who have been able to succeed in politics are single women.
I am not as pessimistic as Alejandra Massolo -- I do not think women are as corrupt as men. I have been criticized by both feminists and machistas, but I have overcome there criticisms. That is why I am convinced that women are able to succeed in politics.
In Yucatán, there are more women in local government because it is easier for them to balance both politics and family. For example, there are 2 female diputadas, 20 mayors, and 3 regidoras. But this is not enough, and we're still fighting to have more female representation.
Women do not corrupt government; we bring honesty. We, as women, have talents and faults, but we dedicate ourselves to our country. In the end, I have been supported by men and women -- feminists and machistas -- and I have made progress for these people. As I said before, Yucatán is a special case. Many women have been able to make progress. We are in the midst of elections right now and women are participating. This is a step forward from previous elections.
Rosario Robles, PRD I think that women have come a long way, not just single women, but wives and mothers as well. It is women who are always at the lead protesting for a new Mexico. But even though women are at the heart of the struggle, that's not to say that women are equally represented. I do not think that women, by and large, choose just to stay home.
I think that the PRD is the only party that has guaranteed representation for women. It is the only party with a quota system. But the decision to implement quotas within the party was done with much trouble and much controversy. The quota law was passed by only 11 votes. Before the PRD instituted the 30% rule (between 1991- 1994) there were only 5 female PRD diputadas only 8% of the elected PRD officials. After the 30% law, 23% of the PRD diputadas were women. Although the PRD is still below the 30% mark, it is still a step in the right direction. But we saw the difference the quota made for women's participation in the party.
We don't just want to patch up the current laws, we want to make significant
changes. We need to struggle for gender equality and democracy that goes hand
in hand with economic and social change. We need a new social contract. Despite the different points of view in this room, we need to talk.
Susana González de Segovia, PAN Women's involvement in politics leaves much to be desired. I want to share some impressions of the municipalities. At the city level, Nuevo León is economically progressive. And behind every businessman are women. Women usually stayed home and it was not until 1955 that the PAN had a diputada in the DF. Since then, we have had 28 mayors and 38 local diputadas. Women's involvement has increased, but there are no women at the state level.
Women's involvement in the PAN has been definitive in Monterrey. The PAN is the majority party there and this has been due to women. Women are active in the political process especially as volunteers, which they do with great success. People who participate in districts are mostly women. The casilla directors are women. Women's participation has decreased to 42.2% because we tried to include more men.
But a major obstacle for women's participation is the family. Women have an obligation to their family. Women have the interest and the capability to be politically active but some women ca not participate because their husbands would not let them. I personally have had to ask many husbands for permission to let their wives participate, and some husbands refused.
Women need to start from the bottom up. We need to have women to start getting involved in financial issues and we should set up a strategy meeting after this conference.
Cecilia Soto, former presidential candidate I would like to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of being a woman in politics. Even though I did not finish my college degree, I felt that it was an advantage being a woman in the last campaign. First, I think that the campaign had a great impact. The main issue of the campaign was the economy, and everyone thought it was amazing that I could talk about the economy as well as I did. Second, the national debate helped gain name recognition. After the debate 40% of those surveyed were able to recognize my name. I was not able to gain much until after the televised debate.
The most extreme disadvantage/limitation for me was the reaction of the public that in a crisis one usually thinks of turning to a man. When the country's in a difficult situation, people will always vote for the status quo, almost always a man. I know this is true because I conducted my own informal survey of people I met. Before they had time to think about the question, as soon as I met someone I would ask them -- if you had a brain tumor and you had to choose between a male or female neurologist, which would you choose? Almost every one, male and female, said the male doctor.
One of the biggest lessons that I learned from the election was that history doesn't happen by theory. In the end, the crisis has given us the ability to democratize. Women can influence the power structures and this will give us confidence, and therefore help us multiply our effects in politics. Margaret Thatcher is an example of a capable female politician. She inspires young English girls. Even though the glass ceiling does exist, a lot of our barriers have to do with the barriers that we place on ourselves. The women's revolution will begin when women have money.
Discussion
Patricia Galeana, head of the Federation of University Women I have several comments to make to the panelists. First, as far as the percentage of women in the congress goes -- 15% percent of the diputadas in the congress are women. Power has no sex, which is an important point. Margaret Thatcher was able to rule because she was more like a man than a woman. You all use the word feminine as if it were synonymous with weakness. Also, women do not have to be divorced or single to have hope for change. For me, there needs to be a transition where the parties include more women. Women give politics more credibility. We need concrete ideas more than demagoguery.
Esperanza Morelos, PAN It is interesting that we are all convinced of our own importance as women in politics, but what about the average Mexican woman? Do we know what they want? The PAN is doing research in that area and we have not finished analyzing the data. But we are interested in finding out whether we are really giving women what they want. Most of the PAN supporters are housewives and most want community involvement. The average women's needs are the most important thing to take into account. We have to look at specific situations. Concrete short-term activities are usually the women's sphere. Because of this, NGOs are an important tool to help women become more involved in politics.
Question Would you be willing to support an amendment modifying the laws so that there would be 30-50% female elected politicians in all parties?
Question (Corene Kendrick) You talk about opening the political space for women, but are you willing to open the political space and include indigenous women as well?
Replies by the panelist members to questions and comments from the audience
Rosario Robles, PRD Is it an imposition to think about quotas when women make up 52% of the electorate and yet we are only 15% of the congress, 3% of the executive branch? But it is 100% women who worked on the sidelines, bringing refreshments etc., during political campaigns. We are demanding and winning spaces. Women work in the trenches. We are not in power because we are women and not because we are not capable. The 30% quota is necessary until women are fully represented in politics. The mechanism for getting women involved has not been developed yet. We can see this just by analyzing the percentages of women in the parties -- only 14% in the PRI and 23% in the PRD.
Lorena Martínez, PRI Quotas are a start and it is included in President Zedillo's reform measures. We would also like to include other people who are not represented -- i.e., the indigenous. The PRD has the highest representation of indigenous people in its party.
Ana Rosa Payán, PAN Women need to win all of the positions available, not just 50%. Yucatán has indigenous representation. More women are included who speak indigenous languages. Many of those women have become mayors.
Alejandra Massolo Being a woman does not assure love or hospitality, our oppression is not biological, it is ideological. Responsibility leads to democratization and plurality. We need to develop multiple, pro-active positions that will help engender change.
Amalia García, PRD It is important that we not repeat old mistakes and the old rhetoric. The legislation recently enacted to reform the rape laws was done in joint effort with women from all the parties, including Payán from the PAN. But rape is still not adequately dealt with. Women in the political sphere want to help reflect the diversity of the world around us. We need an integrated, universal vision and more competence in politics.
If women are not participating in politics, there are reasons for this. We have to deal with the "doble jornada" we are not allowed to participate because of this. I wish the quota issue would disappear, but only if women and men are equally represented. The PRD recognizes the plurality of our nation, which hopefully will help end discrimination.
Cecilia Soto I agree with the PANistas on the issue of quotas. If there is sexism and inequality, we cannot fight it with that tactic. I did not necessarily think that being a woman was an obstacle for me in politics, but I know that I am an exception to the rule. We need to open more spaces for others. Why are women going to want to participate if negative perceptions still exist in the population about politics?
Consuelo Botello, PAN We all have to keep in mind that when we speak of pluralism, we mean that we respect different positions. Usually, we think that our own opinions are the truth and we do not respect others' opinions. The PAN does have a position on quotas. It is good that the women in Norway have been successful because of quotas. But I believe that quotas in Mexico would limit us. We cannot legislate equality. Our constitution states that equality is a question of mentality. Women need better self-esteem. Women feel guilty when they break with the traditional roles assigned to them and become politicians. We do not need quotas, but we need to find another solution to helping women increase their participation in politics.