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September 8th, 2008

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Generation gap

Young Czech women offer hope for political involvement
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June 11th, 2008 issue

By Rebecca Cruise

Czechs who are younger than 24 have few memories of the former communist government. Most were just entering kindergarten when the Velvet Revolution happened in 1989.

Western scholars believe that this post-Socialist generation will determine future democratic norms and values of democratic consolidation in the Czech Republic.

But, as you might expect, there’s a widening generation gap between the people who don’t remember the former system and those who do.

Does this extend to gender and politics? Are young Czech women viewing political activity the same way that older women are?

I did some research to find out. And the answer, as with many things, is mixed.

There are some troubling signs that younger women are largely disinterested in politics. However, there are also some positive characteristics of this group that bode well and justify hope for the future.

I found a generation of women who are seeking to find their voices at the grassroots level and through informal channels. I have reason to be hopeful that these young women will act to better the world around them.

Women in the Czech Republic face many gender-related frustrations — unequal hiring procedures, lower wages and sexist attitudes at home and on the job.

In response, some women have begun to mobilize on certain “female” issues to advocate for their rights and to advance a more gendered perspective in recent years.

For example, women (and some men) opened a Gender Studies Center in the early 1990s in Prague. Activists have fought to include gender studies curriculum in universities and they have created programs to draw attention to domestic violence and the sex trade.

More recently, they started Forum 50%, a civic association that aims to increase the number of women in business and politics.

These are all great examples of beginning progress toward greater gender equality. But, to continue this initial progress, young Czech women entering the labor market must now take a lead role in crafting their futures.

Dana Němcová, a former dissident/activist, told me that she has a great deal of hope in the new generation of women. She feels they will be more socially and politically active than many of those who came before them. This was a sentiment echoed, with some caution, by a number of women I spoke with.

In Eastern Europe, one of the remarkable features has been the continuity and similar values of different female generations in recent decades.

Therefore, recent survey data indicating some changes in values among female generations is somewhat new.

In a recent survey of more than 500 women throughout the country, respondents were asked to say how willing they are to get involved in politics and charity/volunteer activities. The survey was done by IPSOS, a worldwide private research firm with offices in the Czech Republic.

Based on the responses, previously shared views between older and younger women are beginning to change, according to the survey.

Younger Czech women do indeed view some things differently than their mothers and grandmothers. In terms of political engagement, this comes in both negative and positive forms.

According to anecdotal evidence, however, Czech women just don’t have a high degree of interest in politics. The youngest respondents in my survey were the least interested.

My interviews revealed a general mistrust of the government and a sense that the system was set up against women. On several occasions, I was told that the political system is an “old boys’ network” and that women who want to be politicians have to work twice as hard and have twice as thick of a skin to deal with all of the abuse they will take from their male colleagues and the media. Almost 75 percent of women between the ages of 55 and 64 said they were very or somewhat interested in politics, but only 46 percent of the youngest women claimed such interest.

While worrisome, these numbers are not much different from what one would usually expect to see in the United States.

What is, perhaps, more troubling is that young women in the Czech Republic don’t feel it’s important for women to get involved in issues they think are important.

Those women were least likely to answer that female activity is important and the most likely to suggest that female representation in the legislative branch is unimportant in helping women advance.

Only 28 percent of young Czech women said it was very important that women be politically active.

This is compared with 50 percent of female respondents between the ages of 55 and 64 who thought they should be and the 44.4 percent of those between 45 and 54 who believe political activity is important.

At the same time, just 5 percent of the youngest group said it was not important at all to get involved.

Related to that, a little more than 42 percent of the youngest respondents said female politicians represent their concerns. In the 45–54 age group, the number was 61 percent; for 55- to 64-year-olds, it was 51 percent.

However, both the oldest group and the youngest group had similar opinions when asked if women had specific gender concerns.

While these figures seem distressing, there is reason to be hopeful.

Younger women, though not paying as close attention to formal politics as their elders, are getting involved in other ways.

When asked if they would be willing to sign a petition, close to 27 percent of the youngest ones said they had already done so.

For older women, the number hovered around 20 percent.

When asked if they would participate in a high-level political activity, such as attending a lawful demonstration — 10 percent of young Czech women said they have, while close to 9 percent of women older than 55 said they have previously been to a demonstration.

Young women are also the most likely to participate in nonprofit groups.

This area has been recognized as a growing source of female participation, and it appears that the new generation is particularly drawn to the sector.

One of the reasons could be the perception of formal politics being a “man’s game.”

Among the 18- to 24-year-olds, for example, almost 22 percent have worked or volunteered with a nonprofit group and 55 percent say they would.

For the eldest age group, 19 percent have volunteered and 35 percent say they would.

In addition, this group of women was the most likely to be trustful of government and to answer that life now is significantly better than life before 1989. They are more positive about the present and the future.

The results of this recent survey and my interviews show that there is indeed a generation gap among Czech women in terms of political activity.

Young Czech women do not appear to be drawn or particularly interested in formal politics, nor do they see a great need for female politicians to express gender concerns.

We should encourage young Czech women to vote and to increase their political interest. However, young women are making their voices heard at the grassroots level and are increasingly likely to have already taken part in such acts as demonstrating or signing petitions.

This can be seen in the streets. Protests in the fall challenged a proposed U.S. radar base, and other gatherings in Prague were full of young women having their say.

Young women are also becoming increasingly involved in nonprofit activities.

New organizations are being created and led by some of these inspiring young women. Many of my interviewees remarked that many nonprofit groups and social organizations are powered by women in their 30s.

These are positive signs that suggest that the democratic ideal of grassroots civic participation is at least beginning to grab hold among young Czech women. Some cautious optimism is warranted.

— The author is a doctoral candidate at the University of Oklahoma who spent time in Prague over the last six months doing research on female political participation in post-socialist Europe.

Reader's comments:

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[17:27 16/06/2008] : >>In Eastern Europe, one of the remarkable features has been the continuity and similar values of different female generations in recent decades.

Eh...the Czech Republic isn't in Eastern Europe.

Margot Winston
Prague

[16:11 25/06/2008] : The Czech Republic is in Eastern Europe if you think of the Cold War doctrine.
It is in Central Europe, if you think geographically.
But then again, Europe is not a continent, but rather a subcontinent of Asia, geologically speaking.

Does it really matter, except to understand the context of the writer - to which the writer should be clear in their context of Eastern Europe so that no misunderstandings might exist?

Richard Elliot
Charlotte

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