The Impact of Patriarchy on Women’s Political Participation

Patriarchy advocates a domesticized set of roles for women. These roles have been achieved through developing the dichotomous discourse of public (for men) and private (for women) spheres in which women should be restricted to household. By the end of the 20th century and with the rapid expansion of globalization and worldwide movements towards democracy, women’s efforts to challenge the dominant patriarchal system through more active participation in political decisionmaking process in different levels increased accordingly. Although as a global trend, women’s participation in politics is increasing, however, the quality and quantity of such increasing trend vary in different societies. By using secondary literature, this paper seeks to explain why despite facing very limited legal obstacles against participation in different levels of political processes, women’s political roles and participation are generally less significant than their male counterparts. To answer this question, this paper develops three structural categories, by which patriarchy obstructs women’s participation in politics in practice.