Marginalized groups

Jana Morgan’s analysis of voting preferences between men and women was very insightful. Throughout Latin America, we have seen the rise of women presidential candidates on the ballot. What really stood out for me in the article was when Morgan stated: “Women do not succumb to the negative stereotype that female leaders are not capable of dealing effectively with insecurity and are therefore not less likely to vote for a female candidate if they feel unsafe in their community” (21). Women have always been considered as the weaker sex because of traditional house roles, especially in Latin America, who is still for the most part, an extremely patriarchal society. When it comes to voting for a woman, I think it’s interesting that a man will think that a woman is incapable of dealing with crime just because she’s a woman and I think this can be associated with traditional gender roles. Why are men seen as the stronger and more important sex?

 

Following Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment in Brazil last year, many women thought that her impeachment was sexist and that her ousting would be like taking a step back on women’s rights. They were right. The new president, Michel Temor, made it illegal to have an abortion unless you were a victim of rape, which of course angered many women. Abortions will happen regardless and with Temor’s new abortion law, back door abortions are rising. I don’t understand why you would make it illegal. Some women in Brazil do not trust the government and they believe that with Temor’s ban on abortions, this is the government’s way of getting rid of women it does not care about. Having an abortion should be safe process and women should not feel marginalized if they do undergo this process. Why should women think that a male president should have a say on the legalization of abortion since they’re not able to reproduce?

 

Lastly, I believe that women are leaders of change. They not only fight for women’s rights, but also for marginalized groups like indigenous populations and the LGBT communities. Something that’s also important that we haven’t seen in the past, is that we are starting to see a the growth of a woman’s empowerment movement which will hopefully lead to more women participating in politics and fighting for equal rights.