30 Mar 2012
School
Department
Course
Professor
11 – Gender, Politics, and Development
Gender & social inequality
- Access to political and economic power is unevenly distributed among social classes, or (usually)
among ethnic groups
- It is also not evenly distributed on the basis of gender
- Women still earn less than men – even when they have similar education and work experience
o not much difference between developed and developing in income inequality
- No developing region has equal legal, social, and economic rights for both men and women
- Higher percent of women in ___ positions in developed than developing
- Primary and secondary enrollment ratios have improved, but not parliamentary representation
Gender Gap
- Men and women have measurable differences in political views and priorities
- Different views on what’s going on in the world around them (because in a way, living in
different parts of that world)
- Yet, unlike class and ethnicity, gender is rarely a major basis for political cleavage… why?
Gender roles
- May be seen as natural order of things, even by women
- Easy to hate the people “over there” rather than your own family/spouse/etc.
- Sources of gender roles
o Culture
Global patriarchy
o Development
Both positive and negative effects
o External influences
Colonialism
British only saw men as house/land owners
Some policies might contribute to equality – schools for women that
didn’t exist before
Globalization
Can be positive – powerful female role models (through TV?)
Can be seen as culturally threatening and lead to tightening of traditions
War & conflict
Iran/Iraq war – many men at the military front, women had to take over
Rwandan genocide – tons of men were murdered, and women were
forced to take on bigger roles
- Over time we see better economic standing for women across the globe, but not political roles
- Gender attitudes: