A Policy Field Only Suitable for Women? Politician's Attitudes towards Men's Role in Gender Equality Representation

Should men MPs engage in the representation of gender equality issues in parliament? The paper analyzes politicians’ attitudes towards men’s participation in gender equality politics and examines to what extent politicians perceive gender equality as a policy field that is more suited for women or for men. On the one hand, recent theoretical arguments highlight that men MPs could and should actively participate in the advocacy for equal rights and opportunities for all genders since gender equality is understood as an interest that is genuinely not ‘attached’ to the identity of women and that equally affects women and men in the society. On the other hand, it is argued that, as women politicians share gender-specific experiences of discrimination and exclusion with the female population, women MPs are the primary actors in the parliamentary representation of gender equality. Empirically, the paper analyzes to what extent these contradictory preferences regarding men’s engagement in gender equality politics are shared among politicians in Switzerland. Moreover, it examines the socio-demographic and ideological determinants that make politicians more likely to adopt a progressive position and to concede an active role for men MPs in gender equality politics. Using data from the Swiss Candidate Study 2019, the results show that more than half of the candidates for the Swiss national parliament still perceive gender equality as a policy field that is primarily suited to women representatives. This believe is equally shared among women and men candidates. Further analyses demonstrate that particularly older candidates as well as candidates with conservative ideological positions are more likely to perceive women as the primary actors in the representation of gender equality issues. These traditional conceptions of representational roles are one of the many barriers to significant advancements in gender equality legislation.