Women's Participation in Politics:
​Personal Effort and Collective Change

By ｜ Hsu Liling
Peoplefish Poetry & Life Magazine has featured conservationists, entrepreneurs, and directors, as well as women involved in politics and public affairs. These Taiwanese women have carved out unique lives through their personal endeavors. Their professionalism and persistence have brought greater dynamism and diversity of thought to Taiwan's democracy.

This issue's front cover features Kolas Yotaka's conversation with her friend, former Australian Representative in Taiwan, Jenny Bloomfield. With this piece, a dialogue between two exceptional women, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of the changes that women's involvement in politics, diplomacy and public life can bring to society.

A multilingual lawyer by training, former representative Bloomfield worked as an Australian diplomat for 30 years, a deliberate choice that she made as a young woman with an immigrant background eager to explore and change the world. She believed then, as now, that being a woman, getting involved in public and international affairs, and being passionate about it, can change the dynamics of society and bring new ideas to public policy. To set an example for younger women is to encourage them to venture into domains that, traditionally, have tended to be predominantly male.

Through Kolas's interview, we can see former representative Bloomfield's sincerity and persistence, as well as her deep understanding of and affection for Taiwan. Jenny's vision and ideas are also a gift that she is leaving to Taiwan, a society that still too often seems to be dominated by a strong patriarchal mindset. Reading her thoughts can help us break down gender-based assumptions and divisions and deepen Taiwan’s democracy.

Most Taiwanese are not that familiar with Australia, a country that, however, is not too far from us geographically.

Australia has a land area of more than 7 million square meters, the world's sixth-largest country, and 215 times the size of Taiwan. It has a population of more than 27 million people, 55th largest in the world. Australia is also the world's 14th largest economy, ranked 10th globally in GDP per capita, and second in median wealth, according to Credit Suisse. In the recently concluded Paris Olympics, Australia won 18 gold medals, fourth-highest in the world.

A significant event in its history, the Eureka Rebellion of 1855, led the state of South Australia to become the first government in the world to use a secret ballot voting system. The secret ballot system that we are all familiar with today, in which a central election committee is set up, a list of candidates is printed in advance, and voters mark their ballots with an “X”, was designed by William Boothby, Electoral Commissioner for South Australia from 1856 to 1903.

Australian women have participated in government affairs from the beginning of the 20th century, and since then, for over a hundred years, the trend of women's participation in politics and public life has made considerable gains. But the movement for gender equality still has a long way to go.

This interview is an intimate profile of Jenny Bloomfield, whose feminist thinking and commitment to Australia's democracy have led her to redefine concepts like civil service, diplomacy, public affairs, and having an impact. Reading it reminds us that politics and public service doesn’t simply mean power, but also responsibility, duty, selflessness, dedication, contribution, and self-discipline.

In Jenny's Mandarin name “露珍怡”, “怡” means “to have Taiwan in one's heart”. Jenny's deep affection for Taiwan has been amply proven by her relentless efforts to promote Taiwan-Australia cooperation in many fields, including economic and trade, culture and education, and all this during the worst of the pandemic. Over June/July, less than one year since leaving office, Jenny returned to Taiwan to launch her book: “Celebration of Australia-Taiwan Friendship”. At the launch event in Taipei on 1 July, Jenny said: “I was honored to personally experience the openness, diversity and resilience of Taiwan's society and to feel the warmth, hospitality and friendship of the Taiwanese people. Taiwan’s democratic achievements are remarkable and worthy of admiration and respect”, she said, describing herself as a “forever friend” of Taiwan.

Jenny's life story brings to mind the theories of Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung on intrinsic masculinity and femininity, and 'individuation'.

Jung encouraged women to develop their masculine side. He believed that the integrity of life promoted by the combination of hardness and softness, and the integration of opposites, was the way a person should develop throughout his or her life, which he called the individuation process. He also encouraged men to develop their intrinsic femininity. Jung believed that human beings, regardless of gender, must fully develop their external and internal characteristics. Such integrity is not only invaluable to the individual, but can also transform human society.

Jung's theories and his own personal practice changed the lives of many, and inspired spiritual movements in Europe and the United States throughout the last century.

From the perspective of Jung's theory, women who participate in public affairs and other areas which used to be the exclusive domain of men, can serve as role models for others (regardless of gender). A society that maintains a patriarchal view of politics and public power based on the concepts of “power” and “fame and fortune”, where “development” is the only goal, will keep causing immense harm to people’s hearts, and to the balance of our earth's ecosystems.

We are happy to see women with vision and ideals like Jenny Bloomfield, who have the wisdom, warmth and pragmatism needed to be effective in public affairs, especially in the political and diplomatic arenas. As more and more women rise to the challenge, we believe that our society will become more harmonious and more whole.