In searching for a subject on Latin America that I felt passionate enough to blog about, I ran across a headline to an article on how females in Mexico took HALF the seats in legislature this past June. I then pondered and quickly a few questions popped into my mind – so I read on, and sought the answers.
First, what are the women of Mexico doing differently than the rest of the world to overcome gender inequality in congress? Then I thought, this is HUGE! Did you know that Mexico scores above the world average for Masculinity (with its opposite pole, femininity) according to Hofstede’s six dimensions of culture (Pennsylvania State University, 2018)?
(Image retrieved from thealphaparent.com)
What does this mean exactly? Well, in countries scored high in masculinity, there are clear-cut gender roles for men and women and one would expect to see leadership in organizations to be primarily males, whereas you would only see women in roles such as administration if you saw them in the workplace at all (Pennsylvania State University, 2018).
And my last thought was this: What can their neighboring nations and cultures learn from these women who have not only paved the way for equal seats in congress, but who also get to sit down at the table?
The first question can be answered by this fact, Mexico started with a mandatory 30 percent quota for female candidates in the 2003 elections and raised the threshold to 40 percent for the 2009 elections (Hinojosa and Piscopo, 2018). However, parties found many workarounds forging deals that forced women to resign until 2009 when prominent female politicians pushed back, forming a cross-party coalition and pressing officials of the National Electoral Institute to rewrite the quota rules (Hinojosa and Piscopo, 2018). They took the parties to court in 2011, and the women won a landmark case requiring parties to respect the quota at all costs (Hinojosa and Piscopo, 2018).
(Image retrieved from fastlead.com)
Second, with Mexico rated high compared to the average in masculinity, research shows that women in the Mexican congress not only care more than men about rights, equality and social issues, they are just as effective as men at passing legislation (Hinojosa and Piscopo, 2018). To not have gender quota laws that capitalize on the strengths of the educated female population could be a disservice to the voting indigenous. As the newly elected president of Mexico, AMLO looks to demilitarize the drug war and to confront widespread poverty and inequality, these qualities of women will lead the change and yield positive results for the country.
Lastly, the fact that the women of Mexico broke old stereotypes in a masculinity dominant society is an amazing accomplishment and should inspire more females across the globe to break similar glass ceilings. Perhaps women who are looking to gain more seats in their own legislature need to learn from the great work that has already been done by the cross-party coalition in Mexico and present the case to establish a quota rule. The benefit for other countries to make a similar transition seems quite compelling. According to Hinojosa and Piscopo (2018), research shows that women elected under quotas have the same credentials as men or are better qualified and once in congress, they are as productive as men and have fewer absences. What’s there to lose?!
References
Hinojosa, M., Piscopo, J.M. (2018). Women won big in Mexico’s elections — taking nearly half the legislature’s seats. Here’s why. The Washington Post. Retrieved at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/07/11/women-won-big-in-mexicos-elections-taking-nearly-half-the-legislatures-seats-heres-why/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4765f8149eec
Moran, R. T., Ph.D., Abramson, N. R., Ph.D., & Moran, S. V., MA. (2014). Managing cultural differences (Nineth ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Pennsylvania State University (2018). Leadership in Global Context–OLEAD 410. Differences within groups versus differences between groups. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1942644/modules/items/24935423