On Gender Quotas

January 30, 2007 at 1:23 am · Filed under Amman, Seriously

Today’s issue of The Jordan Times mentions the new bill that allocates 20 per cent of municipal council seats for women as a method of addressing the legislative underrepresentation of women, and gives the government the right to appoint women to councils where the required number of women candidates is not realized.

Naturally, this brought about mixed reaction; some who say that allocating a quota for women is a discriminatory action that is a direct violation of democracy, while other’s applaud the step as one that promotes women’s participation in the democratic processes and assures that women’s voices are heard, thus leading to a more democratized and impartial future.

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Personally, I have mixed feelings.

Shouldn’t one be in such a position because of their credentials rather than their gender? Are quotas merely symbolic? What does it imply to have an ‘allocated quota woman’ in the parliament? As a feminist, I believe that women and men should be treated based on equality, but then again, the concept of equality very relative and highly dependent on how one looks at it.

As our socialist friends would argue, how can there be equality without equal opportunity? Asides from the fact that education is readily available to both genders in Jordan, the tribal laws and social taboos that govern our society lead to social factors where women are not as encouraged as their fellow men in taking an interest in the political field. The lack of female officials in our government is the direct result of the social discrimination and pre-programmed gender roles in our society, and this fact must be rectified. In the long run, gender quotas may steer society away from the association of governmental work with men. With time, the predetermined focus on women’s representation may switch to teaching the next generation of females in our society to establish goals for the selection and election of female candidates to political office.

What do you think? Do you support the new bill that allocates 20 per cent of municipal council seats for women or not, and why? It would be interesting to hear some thoughts on the subject.

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  • http://blog.sweetestmemories.com Qwaider قويدر

    In a situation where democracy is in it’s infancy, allocating seats for minority groups, ethnicities and underrepresented sectors of the society is not only a plausible practice but in fact encouraged.
    If such actions are not withheld, these minorities will suffer from their rights violation or at least favoritism to other sectors.

    I say, why not … let them be on the councel even if you had to drag them there kicking and screaming :)

  • http://kadarian.blogspot.com Sam

    I hesitate to give a solid answer… in some ways, allocating seats to women sounds like a good place to start – but at the same time, I think that people should be elected based on credentials, achievements, etc. Though, I don’t think that I can form a really valid opinion on it, since I’m not from Jordan – I feel like it’s kinda hard for me to go one way or another. But overall… I guess I’d have to say that I think it’s a good thing, for now.

  • http://me-in-jordan.blogspot.com OmAr

    I see it as a push towards future equality, the question can be answered by reversing it, that is, what’s the result of not having a quota in a ballot taking place within the next few months inside THIS version of Jordan? Obviously, if things work without guidance this time it’ll lead to results that are nothing but obvious inequality, it is true that an election process that only males win in is considered theoretically as the choice of the voters, nevertheless, if the desired outcome to this process is the ‘equality of opportunities’, then those people have to go to the ballot boxes in an environment of equality first, to make that possible, and to make it possible in Jordan, I think quotas are something desirable as long as they’re combined with a whole system of democratic rehabilitation. It doesn’t stop on gender quotas also, it might include all or some of the minorities that the expected result to the ballot suggests their unjust lack of opportunity.

  • http://myoccupation.blogspot.com moi

    It’s a tough call, but I think in the case of Jordan, the quota is necessary. As you mentioned, the institutional and cultural constraints placed on Jordanian women make it more difficult for them to compete with even the least qualified male candidates. The only problem is that this might also cause unqualified women to be placed in positions of power simply because of their gender. In order to make the system more accepting of female candidates, quotas alone cannot suffice. There must be other reforms such as more funding for women’s empowerment, awareness and education programs. The reforms should also focus on the younger generation of women, encouraging college students to take on internships in different government offices, elections campaigns, and in the legislature. Still, the problem remains, when do we know it’s time to abolish the quota? Will there be a day when we can really say that men and women have equal opportunities in Jordan? You can’t even say that about the US today.

  • Ayyob

    a woman’s credintials and qualifications should get them a seat.

    BUT
    I have to say that with such a sexist society as ours, Quotas can be useful just until men can see that women can do a good or maybe a better job than men.

  • http://zeidspex.blogspot.com/ Devil’s Mind

    I think that this act is in fact discriminatory!! But I think democracy sucks as well…. I think all groups in a country should be well-represented. This is a deviation from the “conventional” majoritarian democracy, and quotas are a good way to make a balance when democracy leads to unfairness.

  • http://altapatio.blogspot.com eltapatio

    Yes, I support such a step. I think it will get Jordanians used to seeing women representing the public. once “women in elected offices” becomes the norm, then pull the plug and gauge their organic success to see if extended quota period is still needed. basically, repeat as needed.

    p.s.
    does any body still remember the female mayor of (خربة الوهادنة)? I think that she was the first elected female mayor in the history of Jordan.

  • http://www.kinziblogs.wordpress.com kinzi

    I hold my nose and vote for quota too, for all the reasons stated above.

    Eltapatio, I don’t remember the first one but I enjoyed reading about Rana Hakaya, the youngest female mayor in Jordan at 26 years old. She is in Al-Hasa.

  • http://thearabobserver.blogspot.com/ The Observer

    I vote for the quota as well.

    We need plenty of time for our people to start believing in women’s capability in leadership. A quota would push us to know better. In a couple of years and once our society is mature enough, we can remove it.

  • Husams

    I don’t believe quota should be based on geographical locations, I believe it should be based on ideological groups, age groups, sex groups, and it’s not about bringing all the smart candidate to the parliament, because there are also stupid uneducated people in the community who need a representative from them to defend their rights of not being able to read a sign in the street and ask for a solution. The ideal parliament is where every citizen represents him/herself in it because true democracy is when the sounds of all are being heard, not just the sound of the dominating majority, in our case men. I believe in a hundred years to come children will have there own representatives in the parliament, I know it may sounds silly now, but that’s also how people felt about having women in the parliament a hundred years ago, just a part of never ending maturity.

  • http://www.pheras.blogspot.com Pheras Hilal

    I personally think that quotas are essential if a council wants to represent a female within its body. Because let’s face it, without them, there’s a big chance that female representation would be non-existent.

  • http://360.yahoo.com/tcdrtw Jennifer

    We in the US have been asking this question more with race (Affirmative Action). White and black. While in our history it is true that blacks were disenfranchised and still today possibly face the consequences of that. On the other hand, everyone now has opportunity more so than before. Some have to overcome more, but this isn’t true just of blacks. And what of those just chosen on the basis of race with Affirmative Action (university, jobs)? Are we ignoring more qualified people, are we overlooking this person’s talents by just looking at race?

    It is a tough question.

    I think the seats for women in Jordan and the Affirmative Action for blacks in the US is necessary before participation increases in these groups, but after it is well established, the programs are best abandoned.

  • http://hareega.blogspot.com Hareega

    it would be great to see more women in decision-making positions (other than making decision-making about the amount of water she’ll wash her husband’s legs with). My concern is that it can result in may unqualified women ending up in sensitive positions they were not ready to handle and people would assume that she’s failing because of her gender and not than the fact she ended up there only because of the quote rather than her qaulifications and their ideas of a woman-shouldn’t-leave-her-kitchen will be encouraged

  • Ayyob

    (other than making decision-making about the amount of water she’ll wash her husband’s legs with)

    Thats just wrong man.

  • Maha

    Many Unqualified men win elections? some are even assigned in congress

    Just some details about assigning women in municipal councils, it’s not random and they don’t just call any woman at home and ask her to do it. The women who do get assigned are those who are very active in their communities, many are already part of Alitihad al Nisa’y or Al Tajamo3 Al Wa6ani li lijan el mar2a and have gone through many workshops organized by local and international agencies about human rights, democracy, law and the decision making process.
    A few years back Princess Basma would assign women in their local municipal councils who she personally knows through her nation wide women’s rights programs.
    You might think that if a woman is that active and accomplished she wouldn’t need assignment or a quota, but look at the reality of voters and canadidtes, a voter either man or woman will most likely vote for someone from the “family”, a woman has no chance against a man with a big family even if her own family was big, el tasweet el 3asha2ery makes it harder for women to vote for someone else or run for elections.
    Some people hold on to the definition of democracy and not it’s purpose, we should have fair and equal representaion of all groups.