Women and the Public Sphere in Saskatchewan, 1905-20051

摘要

Saskatchewan's celebrations of 2005 marked a century of deep change. Using a "tri-focal" analytic approach, (with attention to a typical woman's experiences along with analysis of public policy change and historical female legislative participation rates), this essay surveys the relationship between women and the public sphere during Saskatchewan's first century. In the early period, public policy excluded women from formal political participation, and served to regulate and perpetuate gender inequality. A century later, the legal barriers to political participation have disappeared and women now depend on the state to minimize gender inequality in a number of policy areas. Yet, the goal of equality remains elusive. The rate of female legislative participation has stalled in recent years, and women remain under-represented in many areas of political activity. Very few First Nations and minority women participate in legislative politics, and the state seems unable to remedy persistent areas of inequality, such as the male-female wage gap or the high poverty rate among female single-parent households. As the province's second century begins, there remain many areas of politics and public policy where Saskatchewan women continue to seek full, de facto equality with their male counterparts.