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'Sex symbols' a poor proxy in Sri Lanka
http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/SOU-01-280314.html
'Sex symbols' a poor proxy in Sri Lanka
By Eve Aronson, Marlijn Meijer, Eleonora Maria Mazzoli and Filiz Dagci
Mar 28, '14
A movie star, a beauty queen and a popular model are among candidates running in Sri Lankan's provincial elections on March 29, leading some Sri Lankans to accuse political parties of pushing "sex symbols" in the name of female political representation.
The arrival of models and actresses onto the political stage, with their pictures splashed across newspapers, is beginning to make voters wonder about the political motivation behind such moves.
"Today, we must grapple with the possibility that celebrities, mainly women celebrities, are being used as smokescreens in politics," said Colombo-based human rights advocate Ayanthi, who did not want to be identified out of fear of repercussions by the government.
Sri Lanka does not hold a particularly boastful track record on women's representation in politics, and theit consistently low participation, with only about 5% of parliamentarians being female (compared with about 10% in India) adds to suspicions about the sudden influx of unconventional female candidates this year.