Ross Eccles
artist - architect - concepts designer
creative thinker since 1937
Women's Rights in Ireland
Equality of Political Representation is fundamental
to recognition of women's role in society
Politics is about power and power has always rested with men.
So by default, infrastructural decision making also rests with men.
Yet women make up 51% of the population and have a different mindset.
They also have so much to contribute in improving family life and creating a fair society.
So something must be wrong!
Power is known to corrupt, so some men will only relinquish power slowly and with great reluctance.
The well-worn pattern of political lies, corruption and greed, leads to a path of concealment and political obduracy.
Every reason in the book will be quoted by many men to resist change.
That is why women, who only obtained equal franchise voting rights in the 1920's, still don't have equal franchise in parliament.
Until Equality of Parliamentary Representation by Women is achieved, the European Commission Gender Equality Objectives listed below, are unlikely to be met.
Yet the solution is quite simple........as the graphic below illustrates.
But only coordinated and sustained pressure from women will initiate this change.
The European Commission Gender Equality objective is as follows:
Promoting equal economic independence for women and men.
Closing the gender pay gap
Advancing gender balance in decision making
Ending gender based violence
Promoting gender equality beyond the EU
The UN Sustainable Development Goals state that:
"Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world".
Surely, these are worthy objectives for all of us.
But when will Change happen?
Ireland - A gender balanced Parliament
Graphic by Ross Eccles (2018)
Political Change - The Process
Allowing men to dictate the pace of change has been proven by events to be ineffective.
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So a campaign of non-violent action by women remains the only civilized course left open to them.
It is something that women have to organize for themselves.
They can be assured of the support of many men!
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Iceland - as an example to follow
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Out of 144 countries, Iceland ranks 1st in gender equality.
It also ranks No 1 for the Political Empowerment of Women.
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Yet in the early 1970's, working women's pay in Iceland was 60% of men's pay. Women also had very unequal political representation and therefore, little say in political or business decision making.
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Women' groups then joined together in a Redstocking Movement.
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This led to a women's strike in 1975, which took the form of a Women's Day off Event.
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This had an almost immediate political effect and by the following year, Iceland's Parliament passed a Law guaranteeing equal rights for men and women.
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Why women's contribution to the Political Process is so important
It is generally accepted that women think in a different way to men.
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Quite understandable when we look back to our Evolution and the differing roles men and women have played in the development of our human species.
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Differences in Gender Thinking
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Thinking is a function of the human brain and, the brain has developed an evolutionary gender balance over hundreds of thousands of years.
It is this quite-remarkable gender balance, that has contributed to dominance of humans over other evolutionary forms on this earth.
It can be traditionally described as:
"Men do hunting & territorial tribal protection. Women rear families and maintain base".
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The human brain is made up of two hemispheres connected by the corpus callosum. This is the "nerve transmission mechanism" connecting the hemisphere functions. The corpus callosum happens to be more connected in the female brain than the male brain.
It is reasonable to assume that this may be the reason why women seem to be more adaptable than men at many tasks.
A definite bonus to any political process.
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Gender Equality in governance leads to improved Lawmaking.
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The Intellectual Energy inherent in evolutionary gender mindset differences, now needs to be harnessed.
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Only male and female equality of representation in the political and decision making process will allow the democratic process to fulfill it's true potential as a governing mechanism.
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