The newly formed cabinet of PM Berisha has welcomed only one woman amongst its ministers
By Blerta Picari
In September 2008, we heard the news on introducing the quota system into the electoral code in Albania, aiming to improve women’s participation in politics and achieving gender equality instead of equity. Women NPOs were exalted by this ‘achievement’ for they thought of it as the mark of a long fought battle. During the past elections we saw the consequences of underestimating the level of independence women ought to experience in their private sphere in order to be successful in their political undertakings. The newly formed cabinet of PM Berisha has welcomed only one woman amongst its ministers. Many articles have been written on this issue, however, they do not address the true reasons why women’s participation in the public sphere in Albania has been left up to the quotas.
When a discussion about the division of the private and public life in Albania from a feminist perspective begins it becomes rather difficult. When talking about the differences in treatment for men and women one must consider first the private sphere which is reflected onto the public one. The private is too personal and it would be very simplistic to cite the last author that wrote about it. And when we talk about the public sphere, we refer to others by excluding ourselves, as if we don’t belong to the society which we often criticize.
In order to understand others, one must first build a relationship with one’s self, and this is particularly true of women. They are often wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, etc., and due to these many roles, they tend to undermine the way how they view themselves. Although in Albanian society there are only a few people that know about the fundamentals of the feminist movement, most, can tell you how and why (according to them) women and men are in substance different, and therefore treated as such. Gender is a socially-constructed concept and it varies in different cultures influenced by specific factors. In a patriarchal society, such as my own, women are reduced to the household or the private sphere although there is little room for their own self, while men to the public one. Therefore, due to all possible (f)actors that must be taken into account, relationships between women and men, and later on even amongst people of the same sex, are built based on the win-lose principle or of the conqueror and the conquered.
Women’s participation in the public sphere is rather limited to their sexuality. To many foreigners that I come across Tirana, initially, seems like a pretty liberal place according to the way women dress. However, attempting to imitate the sexual images observed in the media doesn’t mean that women are indeed liberated. The opposite can be actually true in many cases. The unspoken messages dictate that young women should always be sexually attractive for the males and this is often done in a demeaning and submissive manner. The models taught are patriarchal in substance and in form and allow little space to improve a woman’s self-esteem. Such examples can be observed everywhere. If you are a woman driver, then of course you are reminded at least once a day about your supposedly limited driving abilities. In the workplace, the lunch tables are often divided based on sex as men sit and talk about “important” political and economic issues while women talk about dresses, hair and make up and gossip about others. In addition, living on your own when your parents live in the same city can be considered rather strange and inappropriate. Many landlords often ask whether you are on good terms with your family, for they don’t understand why in the world a young woman would want to live on her own. And so on and so forth. Gender becomes the glue that holds together most of the human interactions in our daily life.
In the public realm, international donors and embassies in Albania have supported the change of the electoral code to include gender quotas and promote gender-balanced lists within parties. However, it is quite clear that the current gender representation in the parliament is a true indicator of the place women reserve in our society. They are almost invisible in the public sphere. For those that know the reality of Albanian politics, introducing the quota system can hardly be seen as an accomplishment. A women’s movement and not a quota system, aims to bring positive change not only at the macro level, but primarily and most importantly at the micro level. Although in the public sphere decisions are often made by male politicians to introduce gender quotas in order to promote women in politics, these are rather short-term and short-sighted solutions. Even though we can find many band-aids to publicly solve our patriarchal problems, they will not provide long-term and sustainable answers for many Albanian women in their daily life. As a consequence, they will fail, hence undermining any efforts for a just and equal society for men and women.
Why are politicians concerned that the scale has once more tipped in favor of males? In Albania, it has never been any other wayŮ
