Women and Politics

flyswatter

I wonder why women seem to have such a low interest in debating Politics with the average man?

I know there are a lot of female politicians around the world but the average woman from my experience will leave this to be debated by men.

I read the Politics forum and the political threads on here and it is clearly nearly all men talking about this stuff, especially in the Politics forum.

So many women look at Obama and fancy him but I don't think they really question many of his policies and don't follow what he's doing!

I know some do and protest against America but when debate with a regular person takes place it seems to be all men!

Am I right?

biko

You'll get a better dicussion in Pol than AH (I hope).

I wonder why women seem to have such a low interest in debating Politics with the average man?

Do you mean women won't debate politics with men in general or that women seems to have less interest in politics?

flyswatter

Feel free to move it if you want. I know that I'll get a better debate possibly there but a better laugh here.

Nah, I'd probably prefer it in Politics.

flyswatter

biko wrote: »

You'll get a better dicussion in Pol than AH (I hope).


Do you mean women won't debate politics with men in general or that women seems to have less interest in politics?

Mainly the first point you made but the second I think is kind of true also.

mikemac

flyswatter wrote: »

I read the Politics forum and the political threads on here and it is clearly nearly all men talking about this stuff, especially in the Politics forum.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=4040

Well according to the census over 80% of boards is male.
Boards.ie is many things but it's never been representative of the electorate in Ireland

biko

Men are more opinionated than women
We will discuss issues we have no clue about whereas women often say "I don't have enough information", "I'm not sure" etc

Permabear

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TheUsual

Maybe the fact that they have few women to look up to and read about to in politics is the problem.

I know my interest in politics was started by reading books and listening to them debate on TV/Radio. Not to say that women are not involved in Government, just that they are few and far between.

Cosimo Salvatore

<harry enfield video>

TheUsual

Cosimo Salvatore wrote: »

<harry enfield video>

:mad:
See what you made me do now. Just as the thread was being all sensible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS37SNYjg8w

K-9

Permabear wrote: »

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Funny, I hadn't really noticed that but now that you say it. Maybe its American politics tends to be more partisan.

I'd notice from here and politics.ie, most of the time it's hard to tell if a poster is female and it comes as a surprise that certain posters are.

AH would have a few female posters that would post on political, judicial and human rights type threads and don't really post here.

Women generally seem to find the endless point scoring, quoting verbatim and upmanship boring or just don't like the style. Us men can be very cold, focused and to the point whereas women seem to prefer a more fluid type of debate.

amacachi

TheUsual wrote: »

Maybe the fact that they have few women to look up to and read about to in politics is the problem.

I know my interest in politics was started by reading books and listening to them debate on TV/Radio. Not to say that women are not involved in Government, just that they are few and far between.

I dunno, I can think of very, very few politicians fullstop that I look up to.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Actually it is really strange there's so few women taking part in the politics forum. Sure boards is majority male but plenty of women take part in political debates in other parts of the site.

Even this type!

Women generally seem to find the endless point scoring, quoting verbatim and upmanship boring or just don't like the style. Us men can be very cold, focused and to the point whereas women seem to prefer a more fluid type of debate.

Permabear

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metrovelvet

Permabear wrote: »

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At the risk of sounding glib, we grow up with schoolhouse rocks, trips to DC, and more government info in primary school. We also stood up every morning, from the age of 5, faced the flag, with a hand on our hearts pledging allegiance followed by a couple of songs, like O Spacious Skies.

So all in all as a population, we feel more connected to government and less disenfranchised.

southsiderosie

From what I have seen in the US, women still participate in politics less than men do, but compared to Irish women, I think US women are far more engaged.

I think that part of this has to do with the fact that women in the US have had more entry points into politics than Irish women. To give one example, American public schools are run at a local level, and often have a very high level of parental involvement. For many women, their first foray into "politics" is through their school Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). From there they may scale up into local school board politics, and then city politics. But in general, most women who are politically active say they got into it "by accident"; there tends to be far fewer "career politician" types that were student council president in college and whatnot.

Also, American women have also traditionally had much higher levels of labor market participation than Irish women. By virtue of their employment, they are much more visible members of the "public sphere".

I also think there is a strong cultural component to this. Our constitution doesn't privilege the role of women in the home, and our society is a lot less hierarchical. And while I wouldn't call Irish women passive by any means, I do think there is a lot of "don't rock the boat"-itis in Ireland in general (especially compared to the US!), and this is particularly pronounced among women.

Finally, I have noticed that on boards, and within Ireland in general, there seems to be a much stronger presence of women in republican political circles.

K-9

metrovelvet wrote: »

At the risk of sounding glib, we grow up with schoolhouse rocks, trips to DC, and more government info in primary school. We also stood up every morning, from the age of 5, faced the flag, with a hand on our hearts pledging allegiance followed by a couple of songs, like O Spacious Skies.

So all in all as a population, we feel more connected to government and less disenfranchised.

Whereas we go grow up with lectures on Civil War politics, FG Vs. FF.

In my county SF benefited from the FF collapse, not FG or Labour!

I don't think we are disenfranchised as we think or let on, Washington isn't the focus, "what your candidate can do for you, not your country" is more important with us!

Sisko

Its not just politics, its world events, history and general 'big talk' that I find a lot of Irish women who otherwise seem intelligent, just automatically don't want to know.

Of course I have met Irish women who do have thoughtful opinions and interests in such things but in my experience such women are rare when compared to the amount of Irish men that like to discuses such stuff.

So yeah there is a massive gender divide there from what I can see.

I can't imagine getting on a bus and hearing two typical girls having a deep discussion about the events in Libya for example.

The irony of that 'women know your place' video posted is that the men want the women to just talk about ditzy cute stuff while the men make all the big talk at the table. The modern Ireland reality is appears to be exactly the opposite, men wanna talk with women about such things but women don't wanna know and instead would rather talk about cute bunnies

I'm obviously generalising and over exaggerating a bit but you know what I mean. I mean no offence to anyone.

One wonders why this is the case in Ireland, could the lack of mixed schools be related?

Black Swan

Sisko wrote: »

...men wanna talk with women about such things but women don't wanna know and instead would rather talk about cute bunnies

That's why we cross the pond at age 18 and pursue American bachelors and masters degrees in Bunnyology.

After modding the Politics forums since last Autumn, I've noticed that there are about 3 dozen very active posters, most of whom happen to be male.

Given that there are thousands of boards.ie registered members, most of whom are male, and only a few dozen are actively engaged in discussing politics, would you also assume that proportionately there would be very few females found active on the politics forums?

In other words, I would exercise extreme caution when attempting to generalise anything about the small non-representative number of female participants on boards.ie to all Irish females in general.

biko

Black Swan wrote: »

In other words, I would exercise extreme caution when attempting to generalise anything about the small non-representative number of female participants on boards.ie to all Irish females in general.

I think this answers my claim above

biko wrote: »

Men are more opinionated than women
We will discuss issues we have no clue about.

On topic, I find a many females in my circles willing to discuss politics but they're usually more left, SF/Labour, than the guys.

Sisko

Black Swan wrote: »

That's why we cross the pond at age 18 and pursue American bachelors and masters degrees in Bunnyology.

After modding the Politics forums since last Autumn, I've noticed that there are about 3 dozen very active posters, most of whom happen to be male.

Given that there are thousands of boards.ie registered members, most of whom are male, and only a few dozen are actively engaged in discussing politics, would you also assume that proportionately there would be very few females found active on the politics forums?

In other words, I would exercise extreme caution when attempting to generalise anything about the small non-representative number of female participants on boards.ie to all Irish females in general.

First of all the bunny comment was just in reference to the Harry Enfield skit. Secondly I was talking about Irish Women in general, not Irish women of boards.ie or the politics section. Sure hell , your far more likely to find an Irish woman interested in such stuff on this site.

Nhead

I suppose it depends on the women you know, I find that a lot of women will talk politics but not party politics maybe because they feel that all the main parties don't really represent them.IMO we need more women in the Dail and we need to start teaching about women in history in schools.

later12

Interesting thread, it's nice to read a discussion on this issue that doesn't immediately get side tracked in debate about childcare and gender quotas, but rather to the deeper question as to why women don't display the same interest to begin with. However, I am a bit amused at the idea of an American skew, I don't believe that North American women are more likely to be any more politically engaged than their Irish or European counterparts.

Neither do I entirely believe the idea that the lack of women on the boards.ie political forums are down to disporportionately male site traffic on the boards.ie overall.

The first reason is that on politics.ie, one observes a similiarly disproportionate male representation.

Secondly, while I was at University I experienced something that a lot of you will also have experienced. Across the undergraduate degree programs (where female students often outnumbered males) females were moderately represented in student politics. However, when it came to filling sabbatical and senior roles on the University's student council, this was predominantly (sometimes exclusively) done by males. This is mirrored in all Universities whose student politics I have seen or observed, even in environments with an abundance of bright, well educated women, they do not feature politically.

I have always wondered why that was the case. It does somewhat throw a wet blanket on the issue of childcare and female pressures in themselves being the reasoning behind low female engagement (although for sure, these arguments nevertheless have some merit).

Nhead

later10 wrote: »

Interesting thread, it's nice to read a discussion on this issue that doesn't immediately get side tracked in debate about childcare and gender quotas, but rather to the deeper question as to why women don't display the same interest to begin with. However, I am a bit amused at the idea of an American skew, I don't believe that North American women are more likely to be any more politically engaged than their Irish or European counterparts.

Neither do I entirely believe the idea that the lack of women on the boards.ie political forums are down to disporportionately male site traffic on the boards.ie overall.

The first reason is that on politics.ie, one observes a similiarly disproportionate male representation.

Secondly, while I was at University I experienced something that a lot of you will also have experienced. Across the undergraduate degree programs (where female students often outnumbered males) females were moderately represented in student politics. However, when it came to filling sabbatical and senior roles on the University's student council, this was predominantly (sometimes exclusively) done by males. This is mirrored in all Universities whose student politics I have seen or observed, even in environments with an abundance of bright, well educated women, they do not feature politically.

I have always wondered why that was the case. It does somewhat throw a wet blanket on the issue of childcare and female pressures in themselves being the reasoning behind low female engagement (although for sure, these arguments nevertheless have some merit).

I did notice that in university it is a strange one...

southsiderosie

later10 wrote: »

Interesting thread, it's nice to read a discussion on this issue that doesn't immediately get side tracked in debate about childcare and gender quotas, but rather to the deeper question as to why women don't display the same interest to begin with. However, I am a bit amused at the idea of an American skew, I don't believe that North American women are more likely to be any more politically engaged than their Irish or European counterparts.

Well, I think the childcare issue is a problem for professional politicians or political activists. But that is a separate issue from political interest.

I think American women are generally less self-conscious than Irish women; this is something that comes up in a number of different contexts beyond politics. And we don't do the muttering thing - we are more outspoken (or whinge-y, depending on how you want to interpret that!). Add traditional norms of gender roles into that, and I think there are clear differences between Irish and American women in terms of 'public' behavior, which includes political engagement.

metrovelvet

southsiderosie wrote: »

Well, I think the childcare issue is a problem for professional politicians or political activists. But that is a separate issue from political interest.

I think American women are generally less self-conscious than Irish women; this is something that comes up in a number of different contexts beyond politics. And we don't do the muttering thing - we are more outspoken (or whinge-y, depending on how you want to interpret that!). Add traditional norms of gender roles into that, and I think there are clear differences between Irish and American women in terms of 'public' behavior, which includes political engagement.

American women are also not afraid of being opinionated and don't get judged for being so by their male counterparts. In fact I think they [we] feel obliged to have an opinion.

We don't do false humility. We don't mutter. We don't get embarrasses as easily. Just far more vocal in general.

Nhead

metrovelvet wrote: »

American women are also not afraid of being opinionated and don't get judged for being so by their male counterparts. In fact I think they [we] feel obliged to have an opinion.

We don't do false humility. We don't mutter. We don't get embarrasses as easily. Just far more vocal in general.

In all honesty, as an Irishman I never found Irishwomen afraid to give as good as they get...but maybe it's where I'm from or the women I know.

Macha

metrovelvet wrote: »

American women are also not afraid of being opinionated and don't get judged for being so by their male counterparts. In fact I think they [we] feel obliged to have an opinion.

We don't do false humility. We don't mutter. We don't get embarrasses as easily. Just far more vocal in general.

False humility is one of the worst traits of the Irish.

As an Irish woman (somewhat) involved in politics, I do sometimes get the sense of slight disapproval from others for being opinionated. There's definitely an idea of "why are you making all this fuss?"

metrovelvet

Macha wrote: »

False humility is one of the worst traits of the Irish.

As an Irish woman (somewhat) involved in politics, I do sometimes get the sense of slight disapproval from others for being opinionated. There's definitely an idea of "why are you making all this fuss?"

It goes back to the 'rocking the boat', 'keep shtum,' cunas [sorry dont know how to spell it].

Permabear

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southsiderosie

Permabear wrote: »

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I disagree. The far left gave women a unique avenue into politics in the late 19th and early 20th century through trade unionism. Even in a hierarchical, macho culture like Spain, women emerged as powerful trade union activists, particularly in the Basque Country - which was otherwise quite conservative. In the US, Mother Jones was an inspiration to a generation of female activists in the Progressive Era.

I think the key variable here is social conservatism, which is why you might expect the far left and libertarian-leaning economic conservatives to have a better track record in terms of female political participation and activism. Ireland was a profoundly socially conservative country deep into the 20th century; it is no surprise then that female participation in the public sphere in general - not just in electoral politics - lags behind the US.

Lockstep

Permabear wrote: »

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Strongly disagree here. However 'weak minded' you might consider the left, it has been home to strong-willed and clever women like Dolores Ibárruri, Constance Markiewicz, Bernadette Devlin and Dorothy Day.

I'm heavily involved in Irish politics and on a youth level, there is a male majority. However, there is a strong female presence across political parties, who do themselves justice.

metrovelvet

Lockstep wrote: »

Strongly disagree here. However 'weak minded' you might consider the left, it has been home to strong-willed and clever women like Dolores Ibárruri, Constance Markiewicz, Bernadette Devlin and Dorothy Day.

I'm heavily involved in Irish politics and on a youth level, there is a male majority. However, there is a strong female presence across political parties, who do themselves justice.

Who are those people? I only heard of Markiewicz, who was under the Brits. Begs the question again, did women have more umph under the Brits?

Ireland to me seems more than conservative, and outside the definitions of libera/conservative because it is still feudal and hierarchical.

I think Perma has a point though about individualism because it not only tolerates, but celebrates the rise of the individual, which paradoxically allows those under more pressure to honour social convention [in so far as they will be judged harshly for deviating from it -ahem 'KNOW YOUR PLACE AND STAY IN IT' ] to individuate [to borrow a term from psychoanalysys]. The more egalitarian you get, the less allowable this is.

Lockstep

Dolores Ibárruri was a Republican in the Spanish Civil War. Best known for her use of the phrase "No pasaran" which has been taken up by anti-fascists worldwide.

Bernadette Devlin was a very famous MP from Northern Ireland. Best known for her work in the NICRA campaigns (especially in the People's Democracy movement) and was elected to Westminster. Very active in the Battle of the Bogside and caused a huge stir when she went to the US. She shocked Irish-America as she drew paralells with Catholic in Northern Ireland and the blacks in the US, including giving the keys of New York to the Black Panthers. She's still very active in Northern Ireland in the human rights movement.

Dorothy Day was a Christian Socialist/Christian anarchist. She was one of the founders of the Catholic Worker Movement.

I'm very surprised you havn't heard of any of the above, especially Devlin. She's a very famous character.

Women certainly didn't have more 'umph' under the British (it seems very strange that you would wonder this, based purely on the above) Markiewicz wasn't under the British: she campaigned for Irish independence and was very involved in the entire process be it 1916 or in the first Dáils.
Someone as strong-willed and dynamic and Markiewicz wouldn't be restrained by any sort of society, be it British or Irish. The Republican and Labour movements in Ireland (both North and south) have strong traditions of female involvement and feminism (Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, McCafferty as well as male feminists like Connolly and Francis Sheehy-Skeffington)

metrovelvet

Lockstep wrote: »

Dolores Ibárruri was a Republican in the Spanish Civil War. Best known for her use of the phrase "No pasaran" which has been taken up by anti-fascists worldwide.

Bernadette Devlin was a very famous MP from Northern Ireland. Best known for her work in the NICRA campaigns (especially in the People's Democracy movement) and was elected to Westminster. Very active in the Battle of the Bogside and caused a huge stir when she went to the US. She shocked Irish-America as she drew paralells with Catholic in Northern Ireland and the blacks in the US, including giving the keys of New York to the Black Panthers. She's still very active in Northern Ireland in the human rights movement.

Dorothy Day was a Christian Socialist/Christian anarchist. She was one of the founders of the Catholic Worker Movement.

I'm very surprised you havn't heard of Devlin at least. She's a very famous character.

Nope never heard of Devlin and I'm Irish American. I can see that they would be shocked by that statement. The worked hard for generations to get away from being called 'the blacks of Europe."

How did she give the keys of NY to the Black Panthers? Who gave her the keys in the first place?

Lockstep

metrovelvet wrote: »

Nope never heard of Devlin and I'm Irish American. I can see that they would be shocked by that statement. The worked hard for generations to get away from being called 'the blacks of Europe."

How did she give the keys of NY to the Black Panthers? Who gave her the keys in the first place?

Her biography "The Price of My Soul" is a fascinating read. Although even the Wikipedia article is fairly decent.
When she toured the US, she was referred to as Fidel Castro in a miniskirt
She pops up a lot in modern Irish history (it's very difficult to read anything about the Troubles without coming across her)


She recieved the key to New York City from Mayor Lindsay when she visited the US on her first tour in 1969, sending it on to the Black Panthers via Eamonn McCann who presented it to them with her message "I return what is rightfully theirs: this symbol of the freedom of New York".

Permabear

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Chuchoter

Its an interesting subject, in comparison to boys my age, girls just know nothing about politics. I think there is kind of a pressure to shut up and not make a fuss, and that leads to women thinking they should leave the political decision making to fathers or whoever.

later12

crayolastereo wrote: »

Its an interesting subject, in comparison to boys my age, girls just know nothing about politics. I think there is kind of a pressure to shut up and not make a fuss, and that leads to women thinking they should leave the political decision making to fathers or whoever.

I think that pressure, if it does exist, comes from women themselves. I went to an all boys school for most of my secondary education and it was nothing disfavourable about exchanging political banter with a teacher or knowing who various ministers were.

I wonder if there is something in womens' perceptions of the voter in considering a career in politics. Male voters tend not to elect nor (more importantly) criticise other men based on appearance, and in my experience nor do women. Men however, tend to be much more vocal about women and appearance, and whether in a light hearted conversational way or in a more derogatory fashion, such expressions may be taken very seriously.

I believe that this applies to all walk of life and I wonder if that is not related to female invisibility in politics. Of course, it still does not explain almost complete female invisibility from politics.ie, for example.

toobeyshaw

As a female, I find this thread very interesting. I love politics, follow current affairs avidly and always have an opinion about what is going on. I have both male and female friends who have strong views on politics but if I had to judge I would definately say that the males that I know are more likely to engage in proper conversation about it. I find it difficult as a woman not to be overruled by male opinions on politics, the way I combat that is to be very well informed and make sure that I can back up what I am saying. I think (generalisation alert! ) that women are more open to seeing both sides of the argument. Thats only my experience though!

Nhead

Permabear wrote: »

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I would agree. It should also be noted that Irish republicanism has/had a tendency to subsume other political issues such as feminism it was a case of 'get the republic first and everything else will follow'. Look at O'Casey's plays and he clearly believes that this is what had happened to the Labour movement. Women like Maud Gonne, Elizabeth Farrell, Eva Gore-Booth, Jenny Wyse Power (a founder member of Sinn Fein and one of the first women elected to the Seaned) and Kathleen Lynn and Alice Milligan are largely forgotten. The Ladies Land League is generally sidetracked and the philantrophic work of women such as Margaret Byers, Isabella Tod and Ann Jellicoe is ignored. They also insured that girls acquired equal rights in secondary education by making sure that they could take the Intermediate exams. At third level, Alice Oldham, Mary Hayden and Dr Emily Dickson (to name a few) ensured that women would get a fair(er) deal at the university level they were also involved with setting up the Irish Women's Graduate Association. They lobbied extensively to ensure that women could be employed in various government bodies. Again, a concentration on nationalism and republicanism sidelined these women imo.

pow wow

As a woman who is interested in politics who hardly ever posts in the Politics forum, I'm just not interested in debating the ins and outs of it - people are entitled to have opinions that I don't share and I have no desire to sway them. I work in the field and have a graduate degree in politics and almost the last thing I want to do in my free time is debate it From my perspective there is so much wrong with the Irish political sphere that questioning why women don't want to talk about it isn't very high on my list.

Palmach

Lockstep wrote: »

Social authoritarianism with its backward-looking stances and focus on artificial 'family values' would presumably be the area that isn't accomodating to women.

In the US there are many high profile female candidates on the right and many right wing female commentators. It suits the left to portray themselves as the "natural" home for female politicians but in reality I find that women are far more conservative than men in their political views.

later10 wrote: »

Male voters tend not to elect nor (more importantly) criticise other men based on appearance, and in my experience nor do women. Men however, tend to be much more vocal about women and appearance, and whether in a light hearted conversational way or in a more derogatory fashion, such expressions may be taken very seriously.
.

Women are far more judgmental on other women's appearance than men are. Also it is un pc to comment on women's appearance in public but yet politicans like Blair and Clinton are regularly ooohed and aaahed over by female commentators.

later12

Palmach wrote: »

Women are far more judgmental on other women's appearance than men are. Also it is un pc to comment on women's appearance in public but yet politicans like Blair and Clinton are regularly ooohed and aaahed over by female commentators.

Blair, really? I always thought that weird missing lower incisor would put them off:eek:. However yes, I take your point, but I do think that men are more critical of the visual than women are when it comes to political personalities - and if women are critical of anybody in that regard, it is perhaps more likely to be other women.

Again, some of this debate is a bit questionable, particularly the attempt to pass off a lack of women in politics as some sort of left wing failure or instead to actually promote the idea that the right is more conducive to womens' participation.

56% of the women in the Dail chamber are clearly left wingers i.e. Labour, Sinn Fein and ULA, Maureen O'Sullican IND and Catherine Murphy IND.

Fine Gael is the sole party that could be even considered to be on the right, with just 11 out of 75 of its members (15%) being female. On the other hand, 8 out of 37 of Labour TDs are women (21.6%)

Again the situation is magnified if we look across the Irish sea to the House of Commons. 49 members of the larger Conservative party in the Commons are women, whereas 95 members of the smaller Labour party are women. Many would have arrived on the Labour benches from the late 1990s when Labour introduced a female-only shortlist system into the seclection of commons' candidates. This corresponds to 16% for Conservatives, the exact same as Fine Gael; and 36.8% for Labour.

In fact, from the conervative womens' home page, a by now outdated but still apt highlight of the present situation:

http://www.conservativewomen.org.uk/women_parliament.asp

After the 1931 general election, there were 13 Conservative women MPs.

After the 1997 general election, there were 13 Conservative women MPs.

Palmach

later10 wrote: »

instead to actually promote the idea that the right is more conducive to womens' participation.

If you are addressing that to me that's not what I said.

later12

Palmach wrote: »

If you are addressing that to me that's not what I said.

No, no, just the thrust of the thread so far in general. Apologies if both directions of my post were not made clear.

Lockstep

Palmach wrote: »

In the US there are many high profile female candidates on the right and many right wing female commentators. It suits the left to portray themselves as the "natural" home for female politicians but in reality I find that women are far more conservative than men in their political views.

There are many high profile female commentators and politicians on the left as well. I really reject the notion that women are inherently more conservative/left wing unless someone can produce some evidence on the matter.

southsiderosie

From what I've read, it's hard to broadly label men and women more 'liberal' or more 'conservative'. What seems to matter is that they have different views on inequality and the role of the state, and those affect their reaction to certain policies.

This study suggests that women are more politically liberal on certain issues because overall they are more concerned about social equality than men are. However, I don't think they used a representative sample: they surveyed college students. This study suggests that women with children become more liberal on social/welfare policy, while men with children actually become more conservative. This article on Canadian political behavior picks up on the same trends: women are more likely than men to support government social programs and programs targeting inequality.

I don't think these tendencies automatically translate into left/right party affiliation or activism - for example, we could imagine that religious women would be more comfortable with the state intervening in social policies regarding private behavior, which would often align them with 'conservative' parties. I think the main point is, men and women use different lenses to evaluate policy, but whether they enter electoral politics at the liberal or conservative end of the spectrum depends on the policy positions and orientations of the parties in question. This may partially explain why, in the US, women are more likely to vote Democrat, and those who identify as libertarian seem to be disproportionately male. This self-identified libertarian female blogger has a take on that, but I am not familiar with internal libertarian discourse at all, so I'd be curious to get someone else's take on this.

later12

southsiderosie wrote: »

I don't think these tendencies automatically translate into left/right party affiliation or activism - for example, we could imagine that religious women would be more comfortable with the state intervening in social policies regarding private behavior, which would often align them with 'conservative' parties. I think the main point is, men and women use different lenses to evaluate policy, but whether they enter electoral politics at the liberal or conservative end of the spectrum depends on the policy positions and orientations of the parties in question. This may partially explain why, in the US, women are more likely to vote Democrat, and those who identify as libertarian seem to be disproportionately male. This self-identified libertarian female blogger has a take on that, but I am not familiar with internal libertarian discourse at all, so I'd be curious to get someone else's take on this.

I think that part of the problem is that we have long outgrown the traditional and vague left/ right classification. There is no moral or economic stance that can be accurately classed in such a crude manner - evn right-libertarians can have views that would be described as left wing and vice versa for many left-libertarians.

femur61

As a mother I wouldn't get involved in political life as I'd rather be with my children and family, probably too lazy, but I do get involved on discussions here and on boards across the big pond to the west of our country. I can't say I agree with the poster re woman not getting involved in political discussion as I do and so do all my friends. That is a very general statement. Definitely my younger nieces are well informed and opinionated. Also woman here in Ireland are still trying to break the glass ceiling, it wasn't too many years ago that when a woman in the PS had to give up her job when she got married. We've only just broken away from the shackles of the Catholic Church which in my opinion is one the most sexist organisations alive.