WOMEN hold up half the sky, declared Chairman Mao in his famous saying about the role played by women in the Chinese Revolution.

This saying is apt for politics in Malaysia, as women make up approximately half the voting population. Yet, we have to ask ourselves whether we are paying enough attention to their votes.

Fifty-five years after independence awarded suffrage to women and the liberty to stand for public office, where do women stand in determining the future of our country?

What progress have we seen towards the full emancipation and participation of women in politics, both as political players and as the voting population?

A good way to measure our achievement is to look at how many of our top political leaders and decision-makers are women. Another is to look at whether our laws and policies are developed with a gender-sensitive approach, or whether gender parity is even accepted by the political mainstream; sexist remarks by some male members of parliament appear to prove otherwise.

We do not have to look hard to realise that the voices of women in politics are still muted.

Yes, we have many female politicians and most political parties have women's wings.

But do these wings have any real power to effect change in their parties' leadership and policies, or do they just implement grassroots activities?

On the other side of the divide, female voters are an unknown entity. We know too little about the voting trends among women in Malaysia: how they voted in previous elections, what influenced their vote and whether their votes created a swing.

With so little information, it is not likely that political parties recognise the power of the female vote and are really doing it justice.

In fact, recent efforts to mobilise women voters have come not from the government or political parties, but from grassroots and activist movements, which have proven themselves to be formidable in organising a response from the community.

One example is Wanita Suara Perubahan, a movement by 15 non-governmental organisations to demand for clean governance.

They made the news when they gathered almost 4,000 people for a rally in Petaling Jaya on March 18.

Then there was the small urban movement called Mamas@Bersih 3.0, which rallied support for the sit-in on April 28 with their call for "clean elections for our children".

Outside of Kuala Lumpur, however, the women's wings of political parties still dominate. Rural women may be more inclined to vote along party lines, rather than based on a candidate's ability and performance.

Either way, women's votes are out there, ripe for the picking. But are political parties any closer to understanding what urban and rural women want?

The biggest stumbling block for women is probably the use of the word "women" in the first place.

Issues like safety, education, welfare and other social concerns, when prefaced by the female gender, are often perceived as soft issues and are not seen as election deal-breakers.

Needless to say, women's leadership in these areas suffer from the same assumption.

It is a folly to box women voters into a stereotype. For one, there is no such thing as women's issues; all issues are important for every Malaysian.

Furthermore, when women use the ballot box to make their stand, 50 per cent of the votes will be up in the air. It will take more than a few token female candidates or a Wanita wing to swing it in a particular direction.

It is time for politicians to listen to women and acknowledge that they are not just the other half, but an equally important half of the electorate.

And for women voters, it is about making sure that our vote means something. Only then can we claim to hold up half the sky.