By Mita Naidu,
Special to The Post

Whether running in a municipal, provincial or federal election, women in Canada face entrenched gender inequality to winning positions of leadership.

Women comprise over 50% of Canada's population. Now compare this to their political representation: a meagre 25% of Canada's municipal councils, 18% of mayors, 29% of provincial legislatures and 26% of Canadians in the House of Commons identify as female.

Lack of support, lack of funding, demands of motherhood, old societal attitudes about leadership, privilege, systemic sexism and sexual harassment are just a few of the obstacles that men do not have to overcome just to reach the starting line.

As a result, many highly qualified women who do not enter Canadian politics. Competent women are still pushed aside by an ‘old-boys’ network. We all lose when access to our political institutions is inequitably distributed.

The road to community seats of power is even more potholed and daunting for South Asian women. As a South Asian woman who will be running as a first-time candidate this fall for the Delta school board, I believe we have even more legitimate barriers to overcome.

The first on the list for me would be the stereotypes of the ‘South Asian woman’, a typecasting that us to be too easily dismissed and marginalised.

Let me unpack three of these ‘myths’:

1. South Asian women are mainly focussed on the home (marriage, kids, family)

Unpacked: While duties in the home may still be a large part of our unpaid work, many South Asian women do have the privilege of seeking leadership positions in a variety of fields based on their personal choices about family, and/or support systems. Political parties can often overlook the successes of South Asian women, and minimize their potential contributions because of this.

2. South Asian women tend to be timid, innocent, meek and submissive.

Unpacked: This myth is often perpetuated in the mainstream media, resulting in each woman to ‘prove’ herself ambitious and worthy. In fact, the stereotype functions as a dichotomy: on the one hand, South Asian women are considered very intelligent and technically adept. But on the other, they're labeled as passive and unassertive. In the political world at least, these perceived qualities can hinder a woman's professional growth amongst all gendered circles.

3. South Asian women are the product of conservative and intolerant families.

Unpacked: This is an incredibly complex topic. It is influenced by education, racism, notions of patriarchy, religious views, rural/urban economics, immigration, notions of safety, ‘izzat’/family honour, colonial history, and more. These multitude of factors make South Asian families incredibly diverse. For women interested in politics, this type of baggage can difficult to shed when it comes to the perceptions of what a candidate may believe or fight for.

Solutions:

1. Let’s begin with starting the conversation. Only by listening to the narratives and visions of South Asian women themselves do we stand a chance of breaking out of Western ideas of modernity and articulating new frameworks of South Asian womanhood.

2. Allies need to step up and support more South Asian women politicians and prospects and recognize the power dynamics at play. This goes further than simply insisting they will make a fine candidate. Allies must support them via mentorship, fundraising, investing their time, networking, and more.

3. Political systems, parties, and representatives need to stop tokenizing. Tokenism tells us everything is peachy keen; and that we’re making progress! But elevating one member of a marginalized group to legitimize the status quo, is more non-racial than post-racial—and it certainly doesn’t break down the real barriers.

Women’s exclusion from public spaces, and particularly the political realm, is systematic. It is structural in nature and is intensified by attitudes, cultures, norms and practices that seek to explain rather than address their exclusion from positions of power.

Unpacking this for South Asian women, is a continual journey in self-reflection.

Mita Naidu is running for Delta School Board in the upcoming municipal elections on Oct 20, 2018. See her page on Facebook at “MitaDeltaVoices”.