Gender ideology and gendered political dynamics shaping electoral fortunes of women politicians in Kerala, India

This paper analyses the 2019 general elections and the by-elections that followed in the state of Kerala, India, to discern the changing gender dynamics that produced certain kinds of ‘desirability’ and ‘approval’ around the candidature of women politicians. By tracing the historical trajectory of women's engagement in public politics in the state, this paper attempts to identify the coordinates of evolving gender dynamics that decidedly shape women's political representation. It identifies three specific frameworks such as ‘honorary masculinity, ‘‘relaxed honorary masculinity,’ and ‘welfarist feminine altruism’ in and through which three generations of women politicians entered into public politics and carved out their niches. However, what is striking is that the framework of ‘welfarist feminine altruism’, originated at the local level during the mid-1990s in the context of decentralisation, is getting extended to the state level. It incorporated specific markers of ‘desirability’ that accommodates the current caste and religious identity politics. This has led to effectively push women politicians further towards the margins of mainstream politics. The study thus raises the question of intersectionality in women's political leadership, which is relevant to the contemporary analysis of women's political representation.