Abstract
The most recent studies on women’s political participation demonstrate that women are consistently denied adequate space and a level playing field to participate in politics and governance, especially in many global south countries, unlike their male counterparts. These studies’ most dominant claim is that these contexts’ patriarchal cultural norms mainly limit women’s central involvement in such nations’ political processes. Based on this impediment system, it follows that these environments become more unpropitious, hostile, and insecure for women in politics, which opens up and perpetuates possibilities for all manner of harm to them. Because of such threats, several scholars, religious leaders, and women activists decry the underrepresentation of women in politics, which in their understanding, has contributed to prolonged systemic discrimination through a legacy of insufficient woman-centric legislation and policy interventions. There is a consensus-based claim among the majority of these actors that this kind of inadequacy continues unabated due to a siloed thinking that inhibits a joined-up approach in tackling such discrimination. This paper seeks to further explore this claim through a broad stroke integrated review of literature that deals with women’s political participation in Kenya, where the concept of traditional gender role beliefs provides a vital backdrop for conducting it. Based on this concept’s valuable terms of reference, it is concluded that women need to be accorded a more enabling environment to participate in politics and, in this way, ensure that their ascension to leadership positions in governance becomes tenable. It is anticipated that such an assumption will increase legislation, policy and other interventions geared towards safeguarding women’s general participation in politics. In light of such conclusion, it is proposed that groundswell support is needed to ensure that the creation of a conducive environment for women to be involved in politics is realized, and in this way, their disenfranchisement based on their limited participation in politics is tackled.
Highlights
Critical forms of reflexive thinking developed from interpretative approaches to gender studies signify that a leadership framework predicated on the inclusionary instantiation of women is the boon for which any nation’s successful governance does not remain illusory
It was demonstrated that fewer women are occupying these offices, and this record was attributable on the one hand to some women and men’s internalized values system that are deeply entrenched in the concept of traditional gender role beliefs and, on the other hand, various forms of harm that women are potentially subjected to in their political pursuits
Despite these challenges, it emerged within the reviewed literature that slight progress in terms of women’s inclusivity in political activities and governance had been realized more so because of the new constitution’s provision on gender equality
Summary
Critical forms of reflexive thinking developed from interpretative approaches to gender studies signify that a leadership framework predicated on the inclusionary instantiation of women is the boon for which any nation’s successful governance does not remain illusory. Against the backdrop of this often emergent claim, it is propounded within the contours of an ‘essentialist framing’ that those ascribing to traditional gender role beliefs hold, on the one hand, that a woman’s role is limited to that of a home caretaker and on the other hand, a man’s role entails providing his family with financial support as its sole breadwinner (Corrigal & Konrad, 2007; Eagly, 1987; Eccles et al, 1983; Williams & Best, 1990) This embodiment affords leverage points and the conceptual traction upon which to establish an argument that many actors in these countries’ domains of activism, academia, and religion, more generally, are reaffirming and obscuring relations of force to counter such structures that do not allow for the diminution of exclusive leadership. The following section presents posteriori knowledge derived from traditional gender role beliefs’ core formulation that provides valuable terms of reference for this paper’s analysis of the retrieved secondary data
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