What are the positives and negatives of women's political participation?

Women's participation in politics can be broadly and narrowly defined. Women's political participation in the broad sense refers to women's interest and participation in political activities and political organizations, including women's knowledge of politics, discussion of politics, and ruling in three aspects. In the narrower sense, women's participation in politics refers to women in power, i.e., women holding power, including serving as leaders and managers of governments, political parties, enterprises, institutions and non-governmental organizations at all levels, and making decisions on and managing national and local party and governmental affairs, as well as social affairs. Contemporary Chinese women's participation in politics is mainly characterized by a low proportion, a poor structure, and a low level of awareness.

I. The traditional gender-based division of labor is the economic factor restricting women's political participation in China

In reality, women's political participation in China is affected by a number of factors, among which the socio-economic development is the most important. China is a traditional agricultural country, and the natural economy has produced the gender division of labor patterns of "male farming and female weaving" and "male domination of the outside world and female domination of the inside world," which have severely constrained the political development of Chinese women, especially in the countryside. For a long time, men have been engaged in social labour, operating in the public sphere and monetizing their productive labour, while most women have been isolated and excluded from the public sphere, engaging in domestic labour and operating in the private sphere, where their political rights and resources are inevitably represented or appropriated by men. In rural areas of China, the fact that villagers' meetings are often attended by men is an extension of the pattern of division of labor and distribution of power in the family in the sphere of political life. At the same time, because women are excluded from the public sphere, they are likely to become a conservative force, unconsciously maintaining the status quo and believing in the traditional concept of keeping a family and raising children. This traditional view creates a strong sense of inferiority and dependence among women, which is reflected in their behavior, in which they deny their ability to engage in politics and stay away from politics. In countries with a high level of economic development, the situation of women's participation in politics is better, for example, in the Nordic countries, under the rule of Norway's female Prime Minister Brundtland, there are eight women in the cabinet. In Sweden, there were also more women in the corporate and government sectors. At the same time, women are also the main bearers of domestic work, they bear the material, spiritual production and human reproduction of multiple tasks, social labor, domestic work overload on the shoulders, so they often want to make a difference, but not enough.

Second, the lack of legislation and policies and the limitations of the personnel system are the institutional factors restricting women's participation in politics in China

Women's participation in politics requires a broad social foundation and supporting policies. Although China has formed a relatively complete policy system and personnel system for the selection of women cadres, there are problems with the policies themselves or with the contradictions between them, as well as with their implementation. There are also problems in the legislation on women's political participation, such as the lack of specific provisions on the means and forms of participation and the ambiguity of the subjects of obligation. China's current employment policy, land policy, family planning policy, social security policy and retirement policy all impose certain constraints on women's political participation. For example, the State Council has set the retirement age at 60 for men and 55 for women. To a certain extent, this reduces women's opportunities for further advancement, resulting in a waste of female human resources. Problems such as difficulties in employment for female university students, layoffs of female workers and security of land rights for married women in rural areas have directly or indirectly affected women's participation in politics. In addition, the imperfections of China's cadre and personnel system have an important impact on women's participation in politics. Some scholars believe that the existing policies for training and selecting women cadres are not strong enough, and the policies are not detailed enough, with more soft conditions and fewer hard conditions, lacking operability, continuity and stability. Other scholars are of the view that the personnel system is not standardized, transparent and uncertain, which has fostered corruption in the selection of cadres and challenged social justice and fairness. At the same time, the appointment of some cadres does not take into account the special needs of women, can not be fully utilized, resulting in a waste of human resources.

Three, the traditional culture of gender discrimination and prejudice is a cultural factor restricting women's political participation in China

Confucianism has dominated China's feudal society for thousands of years. Preference for men over women and male superiority over women became the core concepts of traditional consciousness in feudal society, which formed a whole set of systematic theoretical and moral norms that permeated people's daily life. The ideas of "three obediences and four virtues", "three principles and five rules" and "a woman's lack of talent is a virtue" have always constrained women's subjective consciousness and choice of values. With the changes of the social revolution, some of the feudal ethical and moral concepts have been broken, but the ideas that "a good job is not as good as a good marriage" and "a woman's lack of talent is a virtue" still exist in modern society. At the same time, people's long-established different expectations of the two sexes have led to the development of women into "good wives and good mothers" and men into "successful businessmen". Gender discrimination in traditional culture has caused male groups to reject women's participation in society, to doubt women's ability to participate in politics, and to set up embellishments for women in leadership positions, which have dissolved women's sense of subjectivity, made women give up their efforts to develop their own potentials, and made their spheres of life more privatized and subordinate. The traditional culture has a subtle and forbearing side, which makes it easy for outgoing and publicized women to be criticized, and this culture has affected the self-confidence and image of Chinese women in politics to a certain extent.

Fourth, the positioning of the dual role and the weakness of the female psychology is the constraint of Chinese women's political participation in their own factors

Women are responsible for the dual task of the material and spiritual production of the society and the reproduction of human beings themselves. The multiple roles of social labor and domestic work make women's participation in politics require much more effort than that of men. Moreover, after paying the price, women not only have to be evaluated by the male society, but also subject to the test of traditional moral standards. Women's efforts and successes in politics are often not understood and treated fairly by society, and the value of their participation in politics is artificially watered down, making their participation in politics very vulnerable to all kinds of criticism and criticism. The natural division of labor between men and women on the basis of gender, and the fact that women are responsible for giving birth to and raising children, naturally places women in the category of the disadvantaged in terms of their role. This discriminatory social role restricts their political participation and the realization of their goals. In addition, Chinese women have long been excluded from the decision-making power of the state, and it is difficult for them to obtain a corresponding sense of psychological fulfillment from their own behavior. As a result, women's expectations of themselves have been low, and they are afraid to take on important roles, and are willing to play supporting roles and secondary roles in social life, thus creating an inferiority complex. At the same time, career-oriented women with heavy family burdens will have strong psychological pressure and a kind of fear of participation in power, which makes many capable women lose the opportunity to enter politics.

To summarize, the decline of women's participation in politics in China is the result of a combination of factors. Therefore, we should vigorously develop the productive forces, improve the legal system, build an advanced gender culture, and improve the quality of women, so as to increase the level of women's participation in politics.