Gender Asymmetry As the Barrier of Political Modernization in Russia

Considering  activity of the women organization in the context of Russian political life we establish the fact of Gender Asymmetry  in Russian politics. Representatives of women in Parliament (State Duma )  vary from 10% to 14%.   

The main features of social context determining gender asymmetry are the following: feminization of poverty,  latent labor discrimination; Social and cultural inertia accompanied with gender stereotypes; Ignoring gender  interests in political sphere. As the result one can see marginalization of women in the political and economic spheres.  

We consider Globalization as the factor inspiring  political activity of women in Russia and analyze role of  more than 1500 thousands  women organization  and pay attention to the positive dynamic of their activity.   Most of them act in social sphere ( Maternity and childhood protection (39%), The help to socially deprived groups (29%), Providing of public services and amenities to city environment (29%), Healthcare (21%) and Education (22%), Protection of social interests (13%), Human rights (10%).

Main reasons of low representative of women in Politics can be described in different terms: Peculiarities of political socialization; structural factors (unequal   distribution of resources owned by men and women;  situational and biographical factors.  For many years even the very consideration of the Law "On guarantees of equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women" was blocking. The Law about quotas for women in the party lists also was not adopted, despite the extensive discussion in the information and the public sphere. The trend of gradual increase in the proportion of women MPs in the federal  and regional legislatures is very low still.

Hidden discrimination in the political sphere restricting activity of women leads to the different problems of social sphere.