Female Representation in the Politics of Papua New Guinea: What is women's status in Politics as citizens of Papua New Guinea? - Paperback

by Norris Wangina (Author)

Academic Paper from the year 2021 in the subject Gender Studies, grade: 6.0, University of Auckland, language: English, abstract: Women in Papua New Guinea are constitutionally recognised as the countries citizens and should have equal citizenship status as men. However, Papua New Guinea's 'big man' culture founded upon patriarchic beliefs and values often undermines women's status and participation in the country's political arena. Therefore, this literature review examines women's political status in the country and the extent of women's participation in the country's political system. Papua New Guinea's Melanesian culture was built upon Patriarchy. According to Christ, patriarchy is often defined as male dominance. In traditional Papua New Guinea societies before the European contact, tribal warfare between warring tribes were common. It was the males (men) who defended the tribe, specifically women and children against the invading tribes. In return from their protection, women and children submit to their authority and consider fathers as the head of the family. This system has evolved over thousands of years and eventually inbuilt into the societies social, political and economical structure which got itself rooted in almost all Melanesian sub-cultures. However, the ideology of patriarchy has taken a new twist. Instead of protecting the women, the males take advantage of the system and often treat women as inferior beings. Women are often being abused and supressed from participating especially in the societies' political activities. The patriarchy system has now developed into a system that the male dominance is not out of love and respect but out of treat and violence towards women. It is a system controlled by powerful men, the man who can use treat or other form of violence to supress women. It evolves around the idea that the world is tough and in order to survive one has to be tough physically to survive. The idea is often considered as primitive as it