The Women in Development Perspective - Coursework Example

The women in development perspective The progress in women’s access to health care and education is identified in the United Nations’ report World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics. Despite this gender inequality is still a great concern in developing countries where women are subjected to natural disasters, poor infrastructure, poor housing, restrictions in accessing property and land, suffer domestic violence, face exclusion from jobs with power and status, and lack access to high positions in both the government and private sector. The concept of “Women in Development” recognizes the importance of incorporating women in the process of development. This paper argues that women in development (WID) perspective provides a useful approach in explaining the durability of gender inequalities in developing countries, and in providing concrete solutions to close the gap between men and women. A woman in development (WID) explains that the principle of subordinating women is the main cause of gender inequality in developing countries. Inequality treatments and invisibility of women exist in every aspect of the society, and not just the house area. It is important to keep in mind that women were placed under the authority of their husbands or fathers by the patriarchal system allowing men to dominate women. Gender divisions is produced by patriarchy because it portrays men and women as classes in which the class of men exploits the class of women, and that it is a privilege to be in one class(men) than the other(women). Today’s systems views women as mere labourers who are reduced to subordinate positions expected to provide labour of taking of their children and husbands (Martinez, 2009). “Housewife” is a title evident that women’s position has been deteriorated due to separation of work and home in industralisation, therefore creating gender inequality. By organizing capitalism men ensure that they remain with patriarchal power within the home and as well as within the market. Essentially, surplus labour is extracted from women by men. This is portrayed in the introduced micro-credit program in South Asia, in which most of the credit women contracted ended up in projects in which their men controlled (Watson, 2006). The domestic labour of women which creates gender division and subordinates them, should be considered as important to capitalist society because there is a direct economic contribution made in terms of reproduction. When this thought is pursued further, the male dominance is seen frequently in the development process strategy, because its purpose is to create a thorough hegemonic masculinity by shifting the burden of women from the development. This shows that societies of capitalism with high expectation of masculinity look for various ways of becoming and conducting themselves in power and dominance. This is supported in men and discouraged in women (Watson, 2006)). Gender inequalities will therefore always prevail in developing countries as long as this ideology remains the driving force. It is pertinent that the violence women face from men started a way back which bore patriarchy and created male dominance. The dominance power originates from force and to maintain this in the house, subordination practices such as violence against women have used by men (Martinez, 2009). It is unfortunate that all societies have male domination existing in them, therefore making the explanation of gender inequalities universal. The argument of Women in Development (WID) is that gender division in labour is the major gender inequality complexity. A look at the work market shows that there exists a big difference in the kind of jobs men and women do, the payment received, works hours and required skills. The society has presented which work is for men and which is for women, therefore proving the division of workforce in the society of capitalism and accrediting work depending according to gender with the lower work being women’s. This difference is the main reason why men’s work is valued most by people and perceived as requiring high level of skill which lack in most work done by women. According to Watson (2006) people link conceptual sense and spiritual between nature and women, therefore portraying women as more appropriate in conserving the environment. Women are portrayed as environment managers a term that led to an establishment of Ecofeminism. Segregation of the workforce in terms of gender makes it challenging for women to receive pay equal to men. In many cases, the skilled sectors of the workplace are occupied by men. For instance one can find a male manager with a female secretary but not vice versa. It is interesting to notice that natural disasters are also not blind to gender as they affect women and men differently. Most death reports of disasters show that women are affected more compared to men. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 killed at least four women for every male in Indonesia. In some areas, all who died were only women. The cultural restriction on the behavior of women explains largely the reason for this discrepancy. In Indonesia girls and women are discouraged from learning to climb trees or swim, tactics that can help them survive during disasters. Women who survive disasters face certain safety threats including women violence. They face increased exposure to violence perpetrators when in evacuation centres or with family networks. In many cases the basic needs of women differ from men in recovery periods from disasters. Disasters tend to aggravate gender inequalities that are in existence, which differ from one community to another. In circumstances where food is scarce in famine stricken areas, women are expected to serve boys and men first which results in women facing post-disaster nutritional risks. There are specific needs women have for sanitation and healthcare and have specific household duties that they undertake, which can affect their ability to receive humanitarian assistance. Failure of humanitarians to be aware of these daily needs and routines will prevent them from ensuring that there is equitable assistance provided to both women and men. Unequal access to land and property by women is the main barrier to their economic development. Accessing tenure and land security is related closely to other natural resources such as forests, and water. In developing countries women rarely own the land they work on even though they are expected to produce food. Their power and control to make decision concerning the use of land and its produce is limited. Many countries have land laws that provide gender equality in accessing land but discriminate against daughters and women where inheritance, divorce and marriage laws apply. In Africa, customary laws granted women access to land during pre-colonial period, but this right went down the pit when individual ownership idea was introduced. Gender equality in access to land is no longer granted by customary systems. In closing the gap between men and women, Women in Development (WID) perspective provides various solutions. Implementation of women in development process as beneficiaries and agents is the general solution. This proposes implies that specific responsibilities and roles should be assigned to women, which will position them in contributing fully towards the economic growth. Unfortunately, women’s subordination issue is not solved with this solution. In addition, it is not known how long roles will last. The policy of women in development recognizes that for development to be more effective both men and women should be involved. Societies of capitalism are willing to allow the integration of women in the process of development by creating more part time or full time jobs (Isbister, 2009). To accommodate women who have families part time jobs are created though this only allows low participation in the workplace. Looking at this shows that the point here has been missed by women in development perspective, because the issue is not that women have been left out but the gender division in labour shapes them in, and always puts in them in a subordinate position despite the role they play. This shows that compared to men women are still disadvantaged. The contradiction is not solved by the solution because the jobs open to women are restricted, and supporting part time employment does not change the future of women in economic relationships and social status. Providing women with the required education and training is the second solution of women in development perspective. The key factor in setting the participation of women in development in developing countries could indeed be education and training. This is through introduction of new programs which will eliminate illiteracy amongst women, therefore removing or reducing obstacles of women participation in the growth of the economy. This solution seems reasonable because in developing countries the reality on the ground is that women are excluded from participating in the development due to lack of essential training and knowledge. Nevertheless, this project has a little concern. In most countries around the world cultural, economic, and religious factors are the barriers women face in acquiring education. Economically, many women lack important resources in paying for education. Additionally the availability of women such as the location, duration of the program and time of the day that is required by the program is also a challenge. Another concern with this proposition is that the available training and education is not linked or does not reflect the employment opportunities that will enable them apply what they have studied. Moreover, it is enlightening in this context to examine the program field because it would for example be a waste of time and resources if the training focuses on liberal art which may not link to job opportunities. Women in Development perspectives highlights the third solution of collecting more gendered data with particular needs for women and girls clearly noted, for humanitarians to respond effectively during disasters. This provides awareness of specific needs for girls and women. For example lactating and pregnant women should be identified early enough and provided first priority in accessing health services. Security and safety needs should be provided with women in mind in evacuation centers which include separate sleeping areas and bathrooms for both male and female. To increase the number of survivors when disaster strikes younger girls should be taught how to swim, even though it would be unrealistic to have all women to begin swimming. Low cost floating aids can be used and training in the fabrication done, and encourage women to learn them. Many women in developing countries can be very reluctant in wearing swimming costumes due to cultural reasons but these can be replaced with track pants or T-shirts in order to ensure that everyone learns how to swim. This will boost women’s chances of survival. Women in Development perspective fourth solution are to call for women participation in developing a land policy and land reforms to increase their access to land. However, it would be impossible for a land policy to ensure equal access to land by women if it is not based on the gender equality principle in access to land. Various regulation laws exist in regard to the access of women to land, and in order to foster equal access analysis should start with the way the land legistation, inheritances laws and marital law in existence, interact in ensuring access to land by women, and how this can be promoted by statutory law despite their marital status. The challenge that women in development perspective fails to cover here is that it is not enough to have only laws to ensure women’s access to land. For laws to be effective women need to be aware of them, need to be invoked and the implementation of these laws done. Lastly, it seems that the development process in developing countries is affected by the full weight of gender division of labour and women’s subordination, which explains gender inequalities. Useful approach is provided by women in development perspective as well as offering concrete solutions, though there are some concerns being shown. It is important to commit in applying these solutions in the society to foster gender equality worldwide. Reference Isbister, J. Promises Not Kept: The Betrayal of Social Change in the Third World. Kumarian Press, 1995 Martinez, A. Gender and development: issues and struggles of Third world women, in Introduction to International Development, Approaches, Actors and Issues. Oxford University Press, 2009. Print Watson, Dunford. From Microfinance to macro change : integrating health, education and microfinance to empower women and reduce poverty. Microcredit Summit Halifax, 2006. Print Read More