Warm-Up: 12/8

• Does gender inequality exist in this country? In other countries? EXPLAIN YOUR OPINION!

Cultural Differences

Gender Inequalities

Cultural Differenc

es

Gender Inequalit

y

International Sexism:

Greece

Serbia

Ireland

American Hippies

Georgia

Gender

Gender – “a culture’s assumptions about the differences between men and women: their ‘characters,’ the roles they play in society, what they represent.” - Domosh and Seager

A woman in Bedugul, (on Bali) Indonesia who works for 45 cents an hour 10 hours a

day, six days a week turning bricks. Brickmaking in the US is a traditional male

occupation

• Gender is a social as well as biological difference.

• Modernization has reduced the inequalities but has NOT eliminated them.

• Even in Europe & the US equality has NOT been achieved.

• UK, Germany, India, Israel, Pakistan & the Philippines have had female leaders; the US has not

• Barriers to economic & social advancement are found in the political and corporate realmAfrican woman with head

wrapped to protect against the cold, sand & sun

Woman in Germany prepares tea

Gender Inequality• Women make 80 c. to the Male dollar-even

accounting for time off to raise kids.• Over her career, the average U.S. woman loses

$1.2 m. to wage inequality.• Every industrialized nation except US &

Australia have paid parental leave with a guaranteed job upon return

• Women over 65 are twice as likely to be poor as men.

• Women choose jobs closer to home• Occupational segregation-women have less

chance to advance-take lower paying jobs in more restricted locations

• Male dominance is a world-wide phenomenon• In general Western women are better off than

elsewhere

• Women typically bear children and are confined to the home

• Male dominance is the norm• Education and development

reduce gender inequalities

Women in poorer countries

Female–Male Income Differences

• Fig. 9-11: Women’s income is lower than men’s in all countries, but the gender gap is especially high in parts of the Middle East, South Asia, and Latin America.

Demography & Health

• On average women live 4 yrs. longer than men

• Core countries-5 to 7 yrs. Longer

• World Bank=Africa +3 yrs, South America & Europe, US + 6 yrs.

• Women less likely to:– Smoke– Drink– Eat too much– Drive too fast– Have very high stress

Darfur refugee woman-she lost almost everything as she and

her 4 children fled militia attacks

Longevity Gap

• In all cultures men tend to marry younger women

• The (somewhat joking) American rule is (1/2)Age + 7

• Many women who spend their younger years raising families die alone in poverty

• Higher health risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth

• Poor countries = risk of dying because of pregnancy 80-600 times higher

• 250,000 women die of illegal abortions each year

Quality of Life

Quality of Life-Maternal Mortality Rates• Western World rate is

5/100,000 • South Asia has

highest maternity mortality rates=650/100,000

• Reasons:– Inadequate medical

care– Excessive number of

pregnancies– Malnutrition– Lack of adequate birth

control

250,000 die each year from illegal abortionsWomen not as well nourished as men-female children often worst

offWomen need 3X the amount of iron in childbearing years as men-

but don’t get it in periphery countries

Chinaa) One-child policy has brought an

imbalance in male-to-female ratiob) The number of abortions following

gender-detection tests (which are often legal) skyrocketed

c) Millions of babies die from food deprivation, denial of medical care, abandonment, and murder

Female Infanticide

Chinad) Number of males unable to find wives

during the present decade will double or even triple

e) Some Chinese scholars suggest this situation could lead to social disorders

f) One-child policy has been easier to enforce in urban and near-urban areas

Female Infanticide

China• China’s traditional

attitude toward women-a burden

• Female infanticide was a common rural practice-but after the One Child Policy-it rose in urban areas as well.

• Abortions in China are legal after gender identification tests

• Millions of female infants die of food depravation, denial of medical care, abandonment or murder

India• 300,000 more girls die than

boys • Modern technology making

detection easier• Laws forbidding prenatal

testing

Female Infanticide

Female Infanticide-India• India-gender detection

tests often result in aborted females-the ratio of men to women in India is widening in some parts of India (narrowing in other parts – which ones?).

• Although outlawed-dowry still exists in India-families with sons receive payments from the bride’s parents

• Dowry deaths are common

• Laws against female infanticide & dowry deaths exist-but are not always enforced.

Women in India• Hindu culture

attaches great importance to the male dominated family.

• Hinduism teaches a reverence for all life-yet girls are still forced into arranged marriages-disputes over dowries and “Bride Price” often results in the death of the young bride.

• Many dowry deaths are reported as “kitchen accidents” and never investigated.

An Indian infant girl is given polio vaccine

Dowry Deaths in India- murders of brides (often by burning) when a dispute arises over a dowry. Difficult to “legislate away” the power relationships that lead

to dowry deaths-female infanticide is also tied to the disempowerment of women

Noida, India-Nisha Sharma sits in front of her dowry that her father planned to give to

her groom’s family.She made national headlines in India, when she refused to

marry the groom after his family demanded an even

higher dowry.

Family and Social Conditions

• Great contrast in treatment of boys & girls that puts females at a physical & psychological disadvantage

• Many girls have to work 7 or mores hours a day as children-married off as early as possible;– Mauritania 39% of girls

married by age 15, 15% had children

– Bangladesh-73% married by age 15, 21% had 1 child by age 15

9 yr old Nepal girl picks tea-1 of 180 million children world-wide that work instead of attending

school.97% are in periphery or

semiperiphery countries.

Women in Sub-Saharan Africa

- populate much of the rural areas, as men migrate to cities for work.- produce 70% of the region’s food. - only a small percentage of women have legal title to their land.

Women in Muslim Countries

• Many women in traditional or fundamentalist Islamic states live in isolation and servitude.

• In Iran, Afghanistan, & elsewhere, women’s rights have eroded.

• Ayatollah Khomeini’s 1979 Revolution in Iran created a theocracy

• Taliban took over Afghanistan in 1997 & took women out of public life

Muslim women wearing the chador-note that updated technology and computers has not changed the

religiously conservative areas of the Muslim world

• Education gives the chance to improve one's circumstances–Where education levels are higher,

women's circumstances are better – In much of the less-developed world,

girls are left at home when boys start school

–United Nations and UNICEF estimate that between 65 and 75 percent of all Indian women are illiterate

Women and Education

Education & Opportunity

• Education is the key to remove gender gap.

• In India, overall illiteracy is 55%, for women it is 65% to 75%

• Progress in education & literacy lags in South Asia & Sub-Saharan Africa

• There is also a sharp contrast between urban & rural areas

• Barriers remain in certain professions-even in the West

School in Somalia

School in NY

• More girls now go to school than used to, at least at the elementary level

• A growing number of women reach levels of higher education

• It will take several generations for the gender gap to disappear

• Recent reports from Africa and Asia suggest that in some countries progress in women's education has been halted or even reversed

• In Africa, economic setbacks and armed conflicts have combined to erode education systems

Progress in Education

Economy & Productivity

• Women in the periphery produce over ½ the food, build homes, dig wells, plant & harvest crops, make clothes, etc.

• Women in Africa work hard:– Cultivating corn & staple

crops– Walk long distances for

water– Gather firewood– Take care of the children– Cook the meals

Africa• Women probably have the hardest life• Produce an estimated 70 percent of the food by

hand labor• Gather firewood from ever-increasing distances• Left many times without a husband who has

moved to the city• Often cannot get bank loans or title to the land

she works• A young girl will start working 12 hours a day as

soon as she is able

Economy and Productivity

Women in the Labor Force

• Core Nations-35% to 39% of the labor force are women

• Middle & South America about 24% to 29% of the labor force are women

• Sub-Saharan Africa-37% are women-about 80% work on plantations.

• Asia about 50% of the labor force are women-mostly on farms

Informal Economy –private, often home-based activities such as tailoring, beer brewing, food preparation, or vegetable gardening.

South Korea-women sell

food from their small market gardens near

an ancient temple

• The dominance of males– In the United States, approximately

half the voters are women– In the United States and Canada,

women did not receive full enfranchisement—the right to vote—until 1920

–Male domination of political institutions was well established by 1920

–Not all countries have given women the right to vote

Politics and Public Life

• The right to vote does not necessarily give women equal political power

• In recent years there has been an increase in the amount of women in political leadership

• A few national leaders have been women

Politics and Public Life

Politics & Public Life• US & Canada did not

grant enfranchisement to women until 1920.

• Several women have been leaders of their nations-but no woman has ever run or been elected as President of the US

• US-half of all voters are women:– yet only 17/100

Senators are women– 6/50 governors are

women– 73/435 House members

are women

New Zealand was 1st to grant the vote to women in 1893Australia-1902, Switzerland not until 1971, Portugal 1976Top: Violetta Chamorro-President of Nicaragua; Gloria Arroyo-President of Philippines; Margaret Thatcher-PM of Britain; Indira Gandhi-leader of IndiaOthers-Golda Meir-Israel, Tansu Ciller-Turkey, Angela Merkel -- GermanySome Muslim nations of SW Asia still do not allow women to vote

Ellen Johnson-SirleafPresident of Liberia

Elected with a stunning 60 %

of the voteThis Harvard-educatedGrandmother, the first

womanelected to lead an

Africancountry, faces huge

challenges; Nov. 2005 election

A. Identify the trend shown in the graph above.B. Identify and explain an effect of this trend on population

growth in the developing world.C. Identify and explain an effect of this trend on economic

development in the developing world.D. Identify and explain an effect of this trend on gender roles in

the developing world.