Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1080741
16 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 FEBRUARY 2019 INTERVIEW With only nine women MPs out of 69, Malta has by far the lowest rate of female parliamentary representation in Europe. For some time now there has been talk of introducing measures – for instance, gender quotas – to boost the ratio up to the (ideal) target of 60- 40%. Before turning to the discussion on quotas itself: how do you account for the low representation of women in Maltese politics to begin with? In general, women in public fora tend to be 'categorised'; and the categories they are put into are not often very well- meaning. Research and socio- logical studies have identified a number of stereotypical labels attached to women who ven- ture into public life: for exam- ple, there is 'the witch'… 'the prostitute'… the 'old hag'… As you can see, they are not very complementary terms. Being in the public arena also means making yourself vulnerable to that sort of criticism. Glob- ally, there is also what [writer and diversity advocate] Mari- lyn Loden defined as 'the glass ceiling' in the 1970s. Even in her own research, it emerged as something deeply ingrained in our culture: women are so- cialised, one generation af- ter the next, into the caring, child-rearing role; while men are generally regarded as the 'bread-winner'. So, the issue is by no means unique to Malta. But in Malta, what the facts are also telling us – the number of women elected to parliament, for instance – is that nothing much has changed in the past 50 years. Female representa- tion in parliament is currently less than 12%. And the way the parliament is organised certainly does not help to en- courage women to participate. Even the way politics itself un- folds is unhelpful. It is quite an acrimonious environment; in general, there tends to be a lot of tribalism. We see this in fes- tas, in football… the way some towns and villages are divided into different, competing fac- tions. So in all public arenas, we tend to be very confrontational and tribalistic in our approach. That discourages women from participating, because to over- come the cultural barriers I've been describing, one would have to immerse oneself in that same acrimonious environ- ment. Meanwhile, the facilities don't help. We have finally in- troduced more family-friendly parliamentary sitting hours. But it's just the tip of the ice- berg… You mention negative stereotypes associated with women in public life – 'witches', 'hags', and so on. There is arguably the 'male' equivalent of that, too; but I've noticed that with men, the stereotypes tend to be different. A male politician will often be described as 'corrupt' or 'a crook'… which is a reference to one's behaviour within that public role. A woman, on the other hand, will often be criticised on the basis of her looks, her clothes, and – broadly speaking – her 'womanhood'…. i.e., issues which are clearly personal, and unrelated to her public position. Would you agree that this is reflexive of a deeper underlying misogyny that goes beyond politics? Definitely, yes. Though again, it's not just a Maltese phenom- enon. But women do tend to face criticism of a more per- sonal nature; and it is very hard to get it right, as a woman in a public role. If a woman wears a certain amount of make-up, people might say her place is more on the catwalk of a fash- ion show, than in parliament. But if she wears no make-up at all, they'll say she's looking 'tired' or 'plain'. If she wears high heels, some would say they're inappropriate for that environment. But no heels? Too sporty. Too casual. Not well-maintained enough…. So yes, it really is very hard to get it right, for the people who want to criticise from that angle. And it's also so… predictable. It is the easiest thing in the world to criticise on those terms. Any- one can do it. But those of us – male or female – who want to get down to the business of be- ing in public life… we'd look at that as being superficial. I my- self might superficially form an impression of someone I meet, or work with, on the basis of their looks, or their dress sense. But I'd feel silly and childish bringing any of that up. It is ir- relevant to the job at hand… At the same time, some of the resistance to gender quotas is not rooted in such frivolous concerns. Some people dislike the idea that a woman may end up appointed to public office simply because she is a woman... and even then, to meet international gender balance targets… and not, for instance, because she was the best qualified (or voted- for, in an election) to take the job. How do you view those concerns? My understanding is that government has proposed in- troducing 'positive' measures. You might ask, what's in a word? But I support the term 'positive measures' because it is more versatile, flexible. Quotas would be only one kind of posi- tive measure… But the term 'positive measures', in itself, doesn't tell us very much… It is a general term, true… but then again, it has to be general, for we are still discussing what needs to be done; when, how and to what extent. Another aspect is that some of these measures might end up being temporary. We have already seen this within the executive structures of the Labour Party, for instance. There was a time when quotas were used [to en- sure gender balance]; but then they were removed, after the gender balance was eventu- ally reached… and the balance has remained stable ever since. Naturally it all depends on what sort of measures are taken, and how successful they are in practice. Some might be need- ed only for a short while; oth- ers might have to be retained for much longer. So really and truly, we have to see what the whole package will be… There are some indications, though. This newspaper is informed that the quota system will address the 'more under-represented gender' in any district, after all MPs have been elected – which suggests they may one day apply to men, if ever men are under-represented – and that There is resistance to the proposal of 'quotas' to redress Parliament's inherent gender imbalance: but for sociologist and lecturer MARIA BROWN, only a radical change to the system can overturn centuries of cultural bias Gender balance will not We are trying to overcome so many centuries of cultural disadvantage, that something has to change in quite a radical way Raphael Vassallo Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt