Women, Power & Politics
May 11th, 2009, in Opinion, by Ross
More women politicians is what is needed, some say.
Women and Power
What on earth is all the fuss about the number of women in parliament here? (see Quota for Women – 30%)
A Constitutional Court ruling blocked the absurd idea of forcing parties to leap-frog women over men regardless of the votes won, as if a legislature should somehow mirror a society in its every aspect.
Being left-handed can bring problems, but I don’t suggest that the legislatures that represent me be forced to contain a ‘fair’ proportion of south-paws. Do blondes or red-heads – or guys with receding hair-lines – expect better representation from MPs whose locks (or lack of) resemble their own? It’s plain daft.
Politics is about policies, party programmes, not one’s posture when peeing.
Women – for whom I have high regard, as any who know me will testify – can be excellent politicians, and perhaps because fewer of them enter politics, a matter of personal choice, those who rise are often much better than their male counterparts; by way of example, I could offer Margaret Thatcher in Britain, Senator Ann Cools in Canada or Sarah Palin in the USA, and folks who don’t like my choices can almost certainly adduce lefty ladies who play major roles in their parties.
Ex beauty queen now politician Angelina Sondakh
Here in Jakarta, Ibu Mega is not a special heroine of mine, but she reached the Istana Negara, and every time we see any of the parties on tv, there are plenty of doughty gals on hand. The abundance of pretty actresses who get nominated indicates that Indonesian voters have no perceived reluctance to vote for women, only that they like their women politicians cute, which might not be a bad idea to export to the West.
That last comment was light-hearted, but on a serious note, it is a shame that neo-imperialist Western busy-bodies are trying to export their ‘gender’ ideologies to Asia.
Foreign busybody Michael Foster
Just last week, we had Michael Foster, UK parliamentary under secretary of state for international development (JG 8/5) in Jakarta, rabbiting on, in a high-handed and unacceptable tone.
The main issue is how we can get more women into the DPR.
We? It is none of his business. If Indonesian parties put up more women candidates and Indonesian voters elect them, fine – the electorate could have voted in hundreds of females recently if they’d been simple-minded enough to choose representatives solely on their ‘gender’ – but that is surely a matter for Indonesians, not for some pin-striped Briton.
(If Foster were genuinely interested in a fair go for women here, he’d be pressing SBY to ban polygamy (or else legalise polyandry!) and to distance himself from PKS bigots whose beloved sharia enforces iniquitous inheritance rules. (He won’t, of course – his own government back home has pandered to just such sexist practices, awarding social welfare benefits to primitives who take multiple wives.)
Indonesian women are no simpletons. If they want power, they’ll get it, but they don’t need imported left-liberal affirmative action programmes, which actually imply (and sustain) inferiority on the part of those they are allegedly introduced to promote.
57 Comments on “Women, Power & Politics”
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Hey Ross, slight apologies, I didn’t see the disclaimer about the joke, I was reading late at night. I’m a pinko, but I’m not quite that uptight…
But I still stand by what everything else I said.
I don’t think women should be “given” seats, but there needs to be education programs established to make sure that there are strong female candidates… candidates that have the policy rigor and expertise… and parties should be encouraging the growth of their female candidates.
Read articles like this: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/elections-2009/article/14076.html
Parties need to be proactively encouraged to develop the skills of their female members, who might not have the financial backing etc to campaign as aggressively as their male counterparts. It’s not necessarily the voters, but sometimes the parties, that are keeping women out.
We need more women in politics to ensure that policies do not discriminate against women. With the patriarchal system so firmly entrenched in politics, affirmative action is very important. I have very little hope that we would see any real change at all without affirmative action. We still have far to go in more developed countries in regard to the involvement of women in politics, and Indonesia is no exception.
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Once the 30% quota has been reached, then what?
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Oigal says:
Where’s the ring? Where’s the ring? Show me! Show me! Show me! I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!
Last time I heard that chant was on TV when a group of leather clad metrosexuals were chanting for the ASSMAD Float at the Sydney Gay Mardi Gra…
Sorry..what can I say I have been biting my tongue on another thread for days now 🙂
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Achmad Sudarsono says:
@ Oigal,
They weren’t metrosexuals.
They were hard-core homosexuals, and frighening ones at that, the variety called “bears,” pot-bellied, leather clad men with moutaches and police hats.
Fortunately, you as my chief fan in Australia, had joined them and organized a two-story statue of me doing a Rhoma Irama pose with my Ukulele. I forgave you gyrating against it. : P
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On ABC once – they were covering the parade with live commentary – commentator Julian Clary, when he saw the ‘bears’ said something like ‘oh! I don’t like the look of them!’, while David Marr hastened to add that the ‘bears’ were like that out of choice…don’t know why that stuck in my head…I don’t remember seeing Achmad, or Oigal in the parade though.
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Lairedion says:
P,
What’s with the homo-erotic images? In another thread I recall you were somewhat fascinated with the former AC/DC singer moving his hips. 🙂
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Ok, well, to restore the balance on the imagery front, here is Indah Kalalo, who is also in my mind a fair bit, with apologies to Ashlee for being slightly juvenile here. 🙂
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Wish I had seen that ..would have been a classic..wonder any chance of Julian Clary doing a Indonesian Presidential special..Love to see his take on the Singer from East Timor and the reactions.
As for the picture..Indah indeed!
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Good picture. A genuine brown skin for a change.
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Astrajingga says:
Brown? What are you talking about, her skin really bule. And the pink lacy underwear on her doesn’t make her look brown at all.
Um…. I kinda feel that there’s something wrong with her…
Oh, she has no head!
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ET says:
Nice picture indeed, but why the bra’s? I hate bra’s.
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Ross says:
Thanks for that comment, Achmad; you’re clearly gonna stick to your usual lofty levels of debate…
Judgement must be by popular vote, otherwise meaningless, even though given the disproportionate number of left-libs who post here, it will indeed leave me with worse odds than Leonidas at Thermopylae – but after all…
Let’s get it wrapped up by Friday latest -I honestly have much more useful things to do. -
Oya, Ashlee, I’m glad we got that straightened out, and I agree parties should encourage women to participate -it’s state-sponsored arbitrary rules I loathe.
Speaking of straightened out, this topic needs to get bacvk to basics, as maggie would have said. Too many very odd posts from A and co. And it’s Wednesday already, so could he please get on with his duel… it was his idea and he’s been pressing for it sporadically for a year, so he ought to be prepared.
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Ok Ross, sure. I’m sure fantasizing about Acehnese boys getting whipped by Tory MPs is very important – and time consuming.
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Interesting to note what some folk consider importaNt.
Anyway, Patung, please provide a deadline so you-Know-who doesn’t procrastinate into next week!?! -
Right Ross, it will be locked on Friday, whether finished or not, but hey it’s just a bit of fun….
Astrajingga said:
As Kinch said, where the hell is all the women’s votes went to?
Gosh!
Well actually he said
As for women parliamentarians, it was a mistake giving women the vote!
But it raises two points – why don’t (more) women choose women candidates, vis a vis my link to the story about the 0 in 150 success rate of women candidates in Poso recently, or is this just not a consideration for them, I mean the sex of the candidate, or are they in fact more likely to choose dishy looking male candidates (Indonesia context)…
Secondly, second guessing Kinch as I think I know some of his online reading habits, and therefore what might have provoked that comment – are women more likely to favour particular policies or general approaches to government or ideology, specifically, as an example, are they more likely to favour welfarist type government than men?
Thirdly, why is Indah Kalolo being photographed in an underwear shop? No scrub that question.
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Who’s procrastinating now, Ross. You need some extra-Joss to prepare for your loss !
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Oh that what wasn’t Kinch saying. I guess my English is not that good to understand his statement.
Anyway, Patung, thanks to let met join. I just learnt that you’re the master of the house.
About why Indah Kalolo was being photographed in an underwear shop, I think because the photographer, who took the picture with a cheap handphone-camera, is a pervert sexist male, whose hobby is watching woman mud-wrestling while shouting “I wanna! I wanna! I wanna!”
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tomaculum says:
“But it raises two points – why don’t (more) women choose women candidates, vis a vis my link to the story about the 0 in 150 success rate of women candidates in Poso recently, or is this just not a consideration for them, I mean the sex of the candidate, or are they in fact more likely to choose dishy looking male candidates (Indonesia context)…”
Sado masochism? 🙂
Seriously, Patung, I wonder about the fact too.
But some of the women parliamentarians are not better than their male counterparts, are they? I remember a woman politician without any equitable political qualification only screaming about the failures of others but forget her own shits. 🙂 -
Btw: who is Indah Kalolo?
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or are they in fact more likely to choose dishy looking male candidates (Indonesia context).
I remember an interview of Argentinean women who deemed Cristina Fernández de Kirchner not fit to become president because of her gender.
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Just got home and fired back at the Gremlin. Will await his final blast tomorrow then reply. Thanks.
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BacKStbrZ says:
Okay even though im just registered for 10 minutes cant resist to comment on this
Women Power?? I think currently neither Men or Women now Have a really Strong Position in politics.
When it comes to politics, All of them sucks, Women nor Men are the same, They talk like they’re already the head of the country
Look at our one and only Megawati, She’s far too old for president and yet she wants to be Nomero uno…
And as you know mr JK and Wiranto Did the most useless presidential election declaration, For SBY? He did an extremely Royal Declaration which made me 3 hours late to home stucked up in a green Japanese car called angkot.
Megawati did fine for the “Wong Cilik” but seems like being used by Mangbowo…
So Politics sucks, I hate politics…. (sorry but i do have a right to stand my choices 😀 )
Im a newbie dont throw me rocks T_T, Teach me how everythin works here aight? hehehe Salam Kenal KK!
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Hi BacKStbrZ, sorry I missed this, welcome aboard. 🙂
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Hii too patung, thanks…. i’m glad im here, its been awhile since i used my….english. i surfed a few topics in the forum and all the guys has awsome english 😀
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Astrajingga’s English is pretty damn good, some others as well among the Indonesians, but a lot of people here are foreigners like me so…
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As Kinch said, where the hell is all the women’s votes went to?
Gosh!
I relly I wish I can see at least one of them in suit, or in safari, or in whatever parliament member uniform is.
I love women in uniform.
I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!