Compared to men, women are almost clueless about
politics. Those are the depressing findings of a
British study released last week. Even in advanced
democracies like Norway and Canada, it found a
massive gender gap in knowledge about politics. Men are news junkies, while women tune out.
According to the authors, these findings should
alarm us. The fact that women are more interested in Kim Kardashian than Stephen Harper is bad for
democracy.

And whose fault is it, anyway? Well, that’s easy. The
study’s authors blame the media, for “marginalizing”
women. They also blame a “historical hangover” of
patriarchal attitudes from the days when women
were not supposed to bother their pretty little heads
about matters outside the home. Also, public affairs
are still dominated by men. All these factors
“discourage [women] from political participation,”
warned Kaori Hayashi, one of the female academics
involved in the study.
But maybe there are other explanations. Women
tend to filter what they need to know. Their eyes glaze
over at the media’s daily offerings of “gotcha” politics.
And 99 per cent of what passes as “news” is noise.

There is a large overlap between men’s and women’s
interests. But many of these interests are
fundamentally different. Men keep track of batting
averages. Women keep track of weddings. Men are
interested in facts, systems, sports, competition,
status, and keeping score. They use the common
ground of sports and politics to bond with other
men. Women are interested in relationships, gossip,
health, education and their kids. They use the
common ground of social information and mutual
support to bond with other women.

Men have opinions on almost everything, even if
they’re ill-informed. Women tend to underrate their
knowledge, and are far more likely to say, “I don’t
know.” The obnoxious online comments you find on
every news site come overwhelmingly from men.

You don finish wt all the grama wey you learn for school,mean say ya papa no wast dire moni at all,wel don my pikin!
But wetin consin woma,wt poli?
who go care for my husba and piki fo home front,if i do poikic you,fo go sch,pls talk sm tin else,never hear result u com to change topik...Becarfuulo!

They are participating now more... compared to previous years.