Editing Sexism (section)

=== Suffrage and politics ===

[[File:Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Two woman carry a sign reading "Votes for Women". |[[Annie Kenney]] and [[Christabel Pankhurst]]]]

Gender has been used as a tool for discrimination against women in the political sphere. [[Women's suffrage]] was not achieved until 1893, when New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote. Saudi Arabia is the most recent country, as of August 2015, to extend the right to vote to women in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Timeline of Women's Suffrage Granted, by Country |url=https://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0931343.html |publisher=Infoplease |access-date=December 1, 2013}}</ref> Some Western countries allowed women the right to vote only relatively recently. [[Switzerland|Swiss]] women gained the right to vote in federal elections in 1971,<ref name="Switzerland's Long Way">{{cite web |url=http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/chronology-womens-right-vote-switzerland.html |title=The Long Way to Women's Right to Vote in Switzerland: a Chronology |publisher=History-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch |access-date=August 1, 2011}}</ref> and [[Appenzell Innerrhoden]] became the last [[Cantons of Switzerland|canton]] to grant women the right to vote on local issues in 1991, when it was forced to do so by the [[Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2003/WOM1373.doc.htm |title=Experts in women's anti-discrimination committee raise questions concerning reports of Switzerland on compliance with convention |date=January 14, 2003 |publisher=United Nations Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women |access-date=September 2, 2011}}</ref> French women were granted the right to vote in 1944.<ref>{{cite web |author=Jean-Pierre Maury |title=Ordonnance du 21 avril 1944 relative à l'organisation des pouvoirs publics en France après la Libération |url=http://mjp.univ-perp.fr/france/co1944-2.htm |access-date=January 8, 2011 |publisher=Mjp.univ-perp.fr |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/histoire/femmes/citoyennete_politique_de-Gaulle.asp |title=La citoyenneté politique des femmes—La décision du Général de Gaulle |author=Assemblée nationale |access-date=December 19, 2007 |language=fr}}</ref> In Greece, women obtained the right to vote in 1952.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.db-decision.de/CoRe/Greece.htm |title=European Database: Women in Decision-making – y Country Report Greece |author=Kerstin Teske: teske@fczb.de |website=db-decision.de |access-date=June 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109110102/http://www.db-decision.de/CoRe/Greece.htm |archive-date=November 9, 2013}}</ref> In [[Liechtenstein]], women obtained the right to vote in 1984, through the [[Liechtenstein women's suffrage referendum, 1984|women's suffrage referendum of 1984]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1066106.stm |title=BBC News—Timeline: Liechtenstein |access-date=14 June 2015 |date=March 31, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/02/world/around-the-world-liechtenstein-women-win-right-to-vote.html |title=Liechtenstein Women Win Right to Vote |date=July 2, 1984 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

While almost every woman today has the right to vote, there is still progress to be made for women in politics. Studies have shown that in several democracies including Australia, Canada, and the United States, women are still represented using gender stereotypes in the press.<ref name="Kittilson 2008">{{cite journal |last1=Kittilson |first1=Miki Caul |last2=Fridkin |first2=Kim |title=Gender, Candidate Portrayals and Election Campaigns: A Comparative Perspective |journal=[[Politics & Gender]] |volume=4 |issue=3 |year=2008 |pages=371–392 |issn=1743-923X |doi=10.1017/S1743923X08000330 |s2cid=145574989}}</ref> Multiple authors have shown that gender differences in the media are less evident today than they used to be in the 1980s, but are still present. Certain issues (e.g., education) are likely to be linked with female candidates, while other issues (e.g., taxes) are likely to be linked with male candidates.<ref name="Kittilson 2008"/> In addition, there is more emphasis on female candidates' personal qualities, such as their appearance and their personality, as females are portrayed as emotional and dependent.<ref name="Kittilson 2008"/>

There is a widespread imbalance of lawmaking power between men and women. The ratio of women to men in legislatures is used as a measure of gender equality in the [[United Nations|United Nations']] [[Gender Empowerment Measure]] and its newer incarnation the [[Gender Inequality Index]]. Speaking about China, Lanyan Chen stated that, since men more than women serve as the gatekeepers of policy making, this may lead to women's needs not being properly represented. In this sense, the inequality in lawmaking power also causes gender discrimination.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chen |first=Lanyan |title=The Gendered Reality of Migrant Workers in Globalizing China |date=2009 |publisher=The [[University of Ottawa]] |location=Ottawa |isbn=978-0-7766-0709-2 |pages=186–207}}</ref>