This is an interactive data visualization I made using data from The World Bank that sets the scene of the issue at hand and shows the vast difference between the United States and Lebanon regarding female political representation. This visualization also depicts the stagnant or insubstantial progress made as the seats held by women in national parliaments, at most, would increase by 5. Also, the percentage of seats held by women in the United States, as of 2022, reached 28.7 percent which is still way below equal representation, but it is definitely a stronger step in the right direction compared to Lebanon, where the highest percentage is 6.25 which is extremely inequal and its regularly stagnant change only further proves the need of integrating more women into politics.
Women's political participation in Lebanon is among the lowest in the world. Lebanon has one of the highest gender gaps globally, ranking 145 out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report 2020. In the most recent parliament elections in Lebanon, only 6.25% of the members of the parliament were women (Lopez-Tomas, 2022). In the United States, which ranked 53 out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report 2020, there is also a significant gender gap in politics. For instance, female politicians took only 23.7% of the seats in Congress in 2022 (CAWP 2022). Despite some progress, there is still not enough or equal representation of women in politics. This can be attributed to the negative societal attitudes and gender stereotypes that are often perpetuated by the media, further limiting women's political power and representation. Hence, this paper argues that the media presents a negative impact on female political participation in the United States and Lebanon through its underrepresentation of women in politics, the perpetuation of negative stereotypes about women, and the incitement of verbal harassment against women in leadership.
In conclusion, there is a gender prejudice against female politicians in both the Lebanese and American media, but this prejudice is more severe in Lebanon. This comparative analysis sheds light and proves the impact of underrepresentation of female politicians in the Lebanese and American media, the gendered stereotypes found in the two media belittling the political competence of women in politics, and the violence or harassment women politicians in Lebanon and America suffer from just because they want to represent their people in public office. It was an interesting comparative analysis since although the two countries are miles apart and have completely different societies and ideologies, the female politicians of both societies suffer the same issues as if it were one country. Lebanon has far more to go than the United States in achieving equal female political representation, but they both have a long way to go regardless. A probable solution to this is a grassroots approach where society is educated about the political abilities of women and to see them as equal first, and then the media representation and social perceptions could follow, unlocking a more gender equal world where all voices are heard.
Sources
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