Over the last century we have slowly but surely seen women globally gain their rights and move toward ending their oppression. Nations around the world have struggled to find the best way to address this persistent gender inequality, some doubting whether it is an issue worth addressing. Despite contradictory views on the state of women's equality, one issue that has been pervasive is the lack of women represented in political office. This is an issue of particular importance in places like the United States, where ideas of freedom and equality are supported, but where this lack of representation is even more rampant (Krook 2009). The last twenty years have seen increased international efforts to address this problem, some with measures such as gender quotas and others without, each with different results. For example, nearly 20 years ago France passed quota legislation requiring equality, but change has been slow and it has yet to come close to its goal of equality (Freedman 2010). Unlike France, the Netherlands has not passed any formal legislation, rather their parties have voluntarily chosen to pursue more equal gender representation which has brought them great success, moving closer to true equality (Norris 1997). This difference reflects how different cultural and political climates can influence the success of efforts towards gender equality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay While their success has not been guaranteed, gender quota legislation is still a popular way for governments to focus on this issue. Supporters of this believe that there are structures present in politics that prevent women from entering and that this type of legislation will explain this obstacle. Gender quotas are laws designed to try to address the disparity between men and women in elected office. They began in the early 20th century and have been widely adopted in various parts of the world, including Africa, South America, Asia and much of Europe, particularly in the last twenty years. There are different types of quota systems and ways to adapt them to the various forms of government and political climates of the nations in which they have been adopted. They state that there must be a certain number or percentage of women in office and seek to achieve this by requiring that more women be considered candidates or that more women be chosen as candidates. This can be done through voluntary party-based action or more official legislation (Krook 2009). While the gender quota method seems logical based on commonly held ideas about what keeps women out of office, such as the deliberate exclusion of women from entering politics For sexist voters, if you look more closely at the problem , it becomes clear that quotas are not a real solution. A gender quota would not address the deep and long-lasting effects of sexual inequality in American society that underlie women's lack of political representation and would therefore be, at best, a superficial solution. In the United States and elsewhere, despite any apparent commitment to justice or equality, there still exists a strong sense of gender difference and appropriate behaviors for men and women, namely gender stereotypes (Levinson et al 2002). Although this phenomenon has receded recently, the way children are socialized still influences their self-perception and notions of gender roles.traditional, causing women to lack political ambition (Lawless and Fox 2010). Some believe that the increased encouragement women may feel because of gender quotas could increase their confidence in women's ability to access political office, thus causing them to consider running for office. But despite the possibility of an increase in women considering themselves candidates – the first stage of political ambition – the encouragement will probably not translate into a significant increase in the number of women who actually run (Krook 2010). This is because other factors that discourage women's political ambition are still present, such as insecurity and perceived levels of discrimination, as well as attachment to gendered family roles, such as being a mother or wife (Lawless and Fox 2010). . The problems that drive women not to run for office are so deeply ingrained in American culture that they must be directly attacked to be solved, which a quota cannot do. Americans continue to hold gender roles and stereotypes, and these gender perceptions are what keep women out of office. Men and women are socialized differently from early childhood to have and value certain traits. As a result, things often considered important to politics are things that women are socially forced to suppress or are stereotyped not to have (Levinson et al 2002). As a result, women are less likely to be considered and consider themselves eligible to apply. In this case, the root cause of women not taking office is not necessarily a structure that prevents them from pursuing political ambitions, but the lack of such ambitions. Because of the way American women are socialized and raised, they are much less likely than men to consider running or decide to run (Lawless and Fox 2010). Many different factors, both internal and external, related to the role and psyche of women, contribute to women not being considered for candidacy. The fact is that, at this point in history, a woman wanting to enter politics is unlikely to be actively dissuaded from doing so, rather than the desire being eradicated in childhood or untapped into adulthood. The solution is not to open politics to women as if they had been excluded from it before, but to recognize the obstacles that lie deeper in the foundations of American culture. Quotas might seem like an obvious solution when considered alone, when you think about The social norms that push women out of office don't seem to address the heart of the problem. Legislating greater representation of women in office should have this effect, but when there is no genuine commitment to politics, little change is seen. If those responsible for implementing the changes required by the quota do not commit to doing so, there will be no improvement (Krook 2009). While most men say they do not favor other men over women as candidates, party leaders have shown this to be untrue. Party leaders and others responsible for recruiting potential candidates are biased against men. Women in similar political positions and qualifications to men also receive less encouragement to consider running for office (Lawless and Fox 2010). As research conducted by Lawless and Fox (2010) shows, this type of encouragement is crucial in deciding to pursue candidacy, especially for women. The willingness of party leaders and political elites to seekand encouraging women to run is an extremely important factor in determining whether a quota is successful or not (Krook 2009). As highlighted by the research mentioned above, many men in positions of political power do not believe women are viable candidates. In many cases they do not even consider the qualified women they come into contact with (Lawless and Fox 2010). If there are no women actively seeking these nominations, it is not likely that a quota in place will increase the representation of women in office unless feelings about women as office holders first change. Men, as well as women, are taught to have certain opinions about the character and experience of women, falling into believing common gender stereotypes (Dolan 2014). Until Americans are no longer taught to underestimate women and their abilities, there will not be as many women selected for office regardless of any legislation put in place. Such legislation also would not resolve anxieties women have about sexism in the political arena. Despite growing equality between American men and women, sexual discrimination in the workplace, particularly in upper-level positions, continues to be a problem. This is a fact that women are very aware of, especially those who are part of the pool of potential officials who tend to hold positions in these fields. Although discrimination persists, women actually tend to overestimate the lived experience of women in politics (Lawless and Fox 2010). Many women have internalized their gender role and, therefore, fear the repercussions of going beyond what is defined as acceptably feminine, as well as displaying traits that would make them appear overly feminine and weak. Both men and women associate certain traits, such as emotionality and irrationality, with women and see them as possible obstacles to a woman's political success (Brooks 2013). Women's greater awareness of their gender leads them to perceive greater discrimination than is actually evident. The anxiety caused by this turns many women away from the idea of ​​pursuing a political career (Lawless and Fox 2010). A forced quota system would not alleviate these concerns. Unless parties voluntarily adopted quotas, which seems unlikely considering current feelings about quotas in America, adopting a gender quota would not actually signal greater acceptance of women in office. Gender quotas are often adopted as a political strategy or are imposed on political elites by a higher power that wants to encourage gender equality (Krook 2009). Quotas as a means of trying to solve the gender problem are only superficial. They will not change the feelings previously held by politicians towards women and, therefore, will not alleviate concerns about gender discrimination. Not only do women fear discrimination from their colleagues, but also the judgment of their personal lives by others due to their choice to pursue a career that could keep them away from their families. One of the main issues driving women away from politics is their disproportionate obligation to family duties, including housework and childcare (Lawless and Fox 2012). This can only be resolved by completing the work of redistributing these tasks and eradicating the idea that women have a particular role and that their place is in the domestic sphere. Women have been tasked with most domestic responsibilities throughout American history, and the vestiges remain today.