Some thoughts on International Women's Day 2008

Development

For women development has been a double edged sword. It has meant taking on the role of breadwinner over and above gender defined roles. As a result there is considerable added physical strain and mental stress.

Gender politics is not simple. It is inextricably tied to religion, caste and class. Often, depending on the socio political context, religion, caste and class exist as the elephant in the room – not articulated but looming larger than life. We try to fix gender equality by paying lip service to society’s structural context but attempting all fixes from the perspective of gender. This argument may be dubbed disingenuous by people who will always point to how far women have come or the successes of some women – as though to suggest it is the fault of the rest that they have not taken the opportunities given to them.

Unfortunately, what goes unacknowledged is that religion, caste and class have a differential impact on men and women – In addition, history lingers. Depending on the context women need varying degrees of support, competence, confidence and courage to withstand scrutiny when they buck trends in the absence of role models. They also have to be imaginative and negotiate with people who are rigid, prejudiced and unimaginative. They have to negotiate gender role stereotyping and confusion to be acknowledged and respected in what they do.

Curiously, even though some structural changes have resulted in women’s economic independence, the unequal treatment of the genders is so entrenched so that it is accepted as being part of gender identity.

Solution:

We need an imaginative educational system that teaches girls to break traditional barriers to employment and negotiate gender inequalities with skill and minimal hardship.

Globalisation

In the international arena market forces have precipitated neocolonialism. The call centres of the East serve the corporations of the West. While women are working more outside the home - market forces trump everything and in the name of profit, gender discrimination thrives unquestioned – so women get paid less, they do not get hired if there is a risk they may get pregnant, sexual harassment is rampant and is not questioned particularly if the partner perpetuating it brings in the big clients – there are no accommodations made to protect women from sexual abuse. Also there are no measures to protect the vast majority of women who work late night shifts at call centres to serve the corporations of the West.

Among the “have nots” women are still the world’s poorest and the gap between rich and poor is widening with less and less access for women to the vast majority to any resources.

For the poor women of the world, increasing development has meant a more precarious life with the widening gap between rich and poor, high inflation and increased cost of living. The land grab has meant loss of traditional land and homes to the multinational corporations and no alternate place to do. A return to the feudal set up where agricultural labourers were bonded to the landlords – the difference now – there is less agriculturue and more construction. Women work in construction under poor and unsafe conditions – but in less skilled jobs and at lower wages than men. In addition, they manage the home and children. Often, their spouses abandon their families in favour of alcohol – which they claim they need to ease the pain resulting from their hard labour.

Solution: Public awareness raising campaigns and education on the negative effects of globalisation on women’s condition

Religion

The return of all forms of religious fundamentalism in most religions of the world as a backlash to western capitalism and its seductive allure has resulted in women’s gender identity being defined by the maxim biology is destiny, as procreators and keepers of the home and hearth and preservers of culture. The continuity of their role pursuant to past definitions of morality is seen as the sheet anchor in protecting against contamination by western cultures of something that is moral, righteous and pure.


Solution: We need to demystify the sanctity of religion, particularly its role in curtailing women’s freedom.