| Summary: | This thesis is concerned with women's political underrepresentation, which is still a
problem in most parts of the world. The primary objective is to investigate the reasons
for this phenomenon. It is maintained that the problem is due to a dearth of political
women. This lack of political women is attributed to various factors that derive from a
gendered public and private ordering within societies. One major aspect of this thesis
is the explication of the significance of the asymmetrical public and private distinction
in relation to the lack of women in political office particularly in Southeast Asia. In
this respect, the first objective is the reformulation of Rosaldo's original "public and
domestic" distinction to include asymmetrical gender processes. Women's domestic
roles, men's superior status, gendered stereotypic characteristics and behaviour, and
gendered institutions are explicated as manifestations of the public and private divide.
The second objective is the empirical evaluation of two sets of hypotheses derived
from the public and private divide. One is related to societal perception of women and
political office, and societal attitudes on gender roles and gender asymmetry. The
other is related to political parties as gendered institutions
Empirical evidence from two studies carried out in Sarawak, Malaysia largely
confirms the pervasiveness of the public and private divide within society, and within
the political party as a gendered institution. First, it was found that people from
diverse cultures exhibit similar attitudes on asymmetrical gender relations. Second, it
was found that people have generally moved away from negative stereotypes of
women, but there is still a strong belief in male superior status, the need for women to
prioritise domestic roles and conformity to proper gender behaviour. Third, it was
found that the highly gendered nature of political parties is not conducive to the
development of political women. All these findings suggest that the culturally
sanctioned public and private divide is an impediment to women's attaining political
office. Based on these findings it is suggested that societies would have to move away
from culturally prescribed gender asymmetry to egalitarianism before equality in
gender representation can be achieved.
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