Abstract

The gender gap in politics has been explained as being due to individual, social, economical and cultural determinants. This research, based on eleven biographical interviews to women and men involved in politics, is aimed at investigating participants' explanations of women's underrepresentation in politics, with particular attention to the mechanisms of construction and preservation of gender inequalities. Participants' discourses were categorized into four thematic areas: women's lack of interest towards politics; the unequal distribution of family work; the difficulties of integration into a masculine and sexist context; the cultural processes of gender roles construction. Results highlighted the need to disclose discourses that construct politics as a male institutional context, as well as the need to identify the key factors that may contribute to plan cultural interventions that promote gender equality in politics.