Till today, males still dominate the government in most countries. Women still face cultural barriers in achieving representation in the govt. I think that more women should be represented in the parliament, as a 2011 study in the American Journal of Political Science found that women are more effective lawmakers than men despite being underrepresented in all areas of politics. While men are generally more assertive in their actions and getting their point across, I firmly believe that female political leaders are just as competent, and would bring great social, political and economic benefits to their nation and even the world.
Today, woman political leaders are popping out one by one, but are still lagging behind in overall participation in the government. However, these female leaders have shown their potential and capability, which sometimes exceeds men's achievements, time and again. One example would be Golda Meir, the fourth Prime Minister of Israel, who was called “the best man in the government” by former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. In the wake of the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics, Meir had appealed to the world to "save our citizens and condemn the unspeakable criminal acts committed". This was because of the lack of global action in tackling the problem, that she decided to take a stand and ordered the Mossad (the national intelligence agency of Israel) to hunt down and assassinate suspected leaders and operatives of terrorist organisations. This evidently shows that the world could use more female leaders, as they are determined to solve crises that others are hesitant to broach.
Increasing women’s representation in the government can empower women and promote gender equality. Women who are typically the responsible one for taking care of domestic needs usually have ideas that would benefit people socially. Iceland's first female prime minister, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir has gained a reputation for voicing support for social issues such as gender equality, a robust welfare system and rights for the disabled and elderly. Furthermore, especially in conservative and patriarchal societies, women usually face oppression and discrimination and are hardly able to air their concerns and needs.
As such, if they had a chance to represent themselves, they would be more capable of dealing with and eradicating the oppressive traditions more effectively. Aung San Suu Kyi, a renowned Minister of Parliament in Myanmar, strongly advocates the right of a people to govern themselves. Under the brutal Burmese regime she was repeatedly detained, threatened, attacked, and underwent paramount suffering. However, throughout all this, Aung San Suu Kyi encourages non-violence and fights for the freedom of her people with dignity.
Having more female policy-makers and thus introducing 'feminine' values may be a great boost to many flailing economies today. Many economies are usually run according to male considerations. Generally, women do not take as much risks and go by other considerations, which would probably have saved these declining economies.
Since female political leaders are few and far between, having more women lead countries would thus introduce more varied perspectives in decision-making, which would positively impact and benefit everyone. That is not to say that male political leaders are irrelevant; having both male and female political leaders complement each other to lead countries would be most appropriate as we would have the best of both worlds.
