Female SU candidates still lacking
Méabh Flanagan analyses the continued lack of diversity in the SU elections, in spite of efforts to tackle the issue.This time last year ‘I <3 Dick’ was the slogan that won an election. A year later, it’s evident that the phrase is still true in another sense: when it comes to student politics UCC students seem to be enamoured with the male gender.As UCC has a female majority (forming 57.3% of the student population), ideally we should see that ratio reflected in our elected representatives. If that isn’t possible, then an equal balance in gender on the SU should at least guarantee fair representation for all. Instead, what we got last year was an SU where all sabbatical positions were held by men, unsurprising really when you consider that of all the possible candidates for the sabbatical positions, only one was female.Hopes that last year’s bleakness would provide the catalyst for change have been somewhat dashed by looking at the candidates for this year, where 80% of all the candidates running are men. Even if every woman running for a position gets elected, we will still have a male President, Comms and Education Officer, as well as male representatives for the Colleges of SEFS, Medicine and Arts.The other part of the problem is whether women are elected if they do run.
In the five years before this election, of the 68 candidates for sabbatical positions, only 13 have been female. And of those, only two were elected. We haven't had a female president since 2003 and know already that we won't have one this year either, making it clear that there is something deeply wrong.
Attitudes on campus need to change from the ground up, starting with promotion of female class reps from first year; this would get women involved with student politics from the outset of their degree. The recent Women in Leadership Summit was also helpful in this regard as it showed students how successful women can be; but to expect the Summit to overturn pervasive gender roles over the course of an evening was ambitious.With voting just around the corner, tough questions must be asked of candidates. It would be rare to find a candidate who will say they’re anti-feminism or anti-marriage equality but some candidates will be more interested in achieving equality in UCC than others. Those running for Deputy and Campaigns, in particular, should lay out exactly how they plan to campaign and raise awareness of this issue during their term. This year’s elections may be male-dominated once again but that does not mean next year’s will have to be too.