Where Political Meets Women: Creating Local Political Space

Do Polish women continue to reject politics or does politics continue to reject women? The dirty game of traditional politics appears to be for men, and the lives of women today are molded by conventional female roles of keeping families together, managing the household, and caring for children. Throughout Polish history, behavior similar to the selfless image of the "Matka Polka " or Polish Mother rewarded invisibility in women's behind-the-scenes support of the political struggles of more deserving male heroes (Penn, 1993). Such anonymity and idealized selflessness do not encourage avenues for and acceptance of open participation in the political process. Yet, Polish women do employ a variety of strategies in their attempts to enter political space and to participate as political actors.