The Cultural Geography of Gender

Cultural Influences on Gender Roles

• Cultural norms can control the advancement or subjugation of women and their status in certain regions of the world.

• Culture and society has an enormous impact on gender roles in America. Americans receive thousands of cultural messages each week concerning gender roles, including advertisements, movies, TV, music, magazines and family influence. People evaluate these messages to understand expectations for their gender and how they should operate within society. While many people and organizations challenge these traditional gender roles, the influence of mainstream culture remains evident.

The Traditional Role of the Woman

Gender and Development

• The development of a culture/society is closely tied to how they view women. In developed countries, the role of the woman in society has changed. We use several measurements concerning gender in determining how developed a culture/society/country actually is. It all goes back to how they treat women.

Development by gender: How is it measured?

1. Gender-Related Development Index

2. Gender Empowerment Measure

3. Child Marriage (CM)Who creates these indexes?

UNHD

Gender-Related Development Index

1. Economic: average income

2. Social Indicators:-literacy levels

-education (school attendance)

3. Demographic:Life expectancy

Gender-Related Development Index

• -The rank of the Netherlands remained the same. (0)• -The rank of Belgium is #7 but the HDI rank is #6. (-1)• -The rank of Iceland is #6 but the HDI rank is #7. (1)• -The rank of Japan is #12 but the HDI rank is 9. (-3)• Why would a country drop in rank from the HDI?

Nepal: GDI

140 59.4 59.9 26.4 61.6 55 67 891 1,776 -4

What can you tell about women in Nepal?

-Women and men have the same life expectancy. Why?-Only a small % of women canread compared to their enrollment in school. Why?-Women make less moneythan men. Why?-What does the last figure mean?

China: GDI

94 73.2 68.8 86.5 95.1 64 69 3,571 5,435 5What can you tell aboutthe women in China?

-Life expectancy is moreconsistent with the global trend-Almost equal numbers of each sex attend school, although low-Literacy rate is high but lower for females compared to males-Males have a higher incomecompared to women, consistentwith the global pattern

Gender Empowerment Measure

How is it measured?• The GEM demonstrates the ability of women

to participate and determine the power structure of a country

2 Economic indicators:-% of women in professional and technical

jobs-income level2 Political indicators:-% of women in admin or managerial jobs-% of women holding elected positions

Gender Empowerment Measure

Gender Empowerment Measure

Women in Subsaharan Africa

• Populate much of the rural areas, as men migrate to cities for work

• Produce 70% of the region’s food

• Small percentage of women have legal title to their land

• 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

also tied to the

disempowerment of

women

Dowry Deaths in India

Nepal: GEM

• No data .50

1951 1951 1952A 14.8 6 5.9

Due to lack of data on the GEM,Data was found on the Political Participation Index

China: GEM

20.2 .66

1949 1949 1954E 5.1 21 20.2

Data for China can be combined from the GEM and the Political Participation index to discuss the political power of women compared to men in China.

GDI and GEM of an MDC:Sweden

2 0.946 82.5 77.5 100 100 124 104 23,781 28,700 -

2 0.854 45.3 31 50 0.83

When comparing Nepal and China to Sweden, what differences can you detect?

Child Marriage

Prevalence of Child Marriage – Top 20 Countries

Girls Married Before Age 18 (%)

1 Niger (1998) 76 2 Chad (2004) 71 3 Bangladesh (2004) 68 4 Mali (2001) 65 5 Guinea (1999) 64 6 CAR (1994/95) 57 7 Nepal (2001) 56 8 Mozambique (2003) 55 9 Uganda (2000/01) 54 10 Burkina Faso (2003) 51 11 India (1998/99) 50 12 Ethiopia (2000) 49 13 Liberia (1986) 48 13 Yemen (1997) 48 15 Cameroon (2004) 47 16 Eritrea (2002) 47 17 Malawi (2000) 46 18 Nicaragua (2001) 43 18 Nigeria (2003) 43 20 Zambia (2001/02) 42

Child Marriage (CM): Constraints to Health &

Development

•Worse reproductive health outcomes•Wasted investment in development efforts

436

575

223

6.2

1270

1100

526

6.60

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Ethiopia Indonesia Nigeria United States

Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000 live

births)

20-34 years

15-19 years

Sources: Family care international, 1998; CDC 2002 Vital Statistics Report

Maternal Mortality by Age

Infant Mortality Rates by Age of the Mother

Outcomes of Child Marriage• Maternal mortality• Maternal morbidities• Low birth weight & prematurity• Infant mortality• Dowry Deaths-refers the deaths of young women who are murdered or driven to suicide by continuous harassment and

torture by husbands and in-laws in an effort to extort an increased dowry. Dowry death is considered one of the many categories of violence against women, alongside rape, bride burning and acid throwing. It is widespread in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and some regions of Africa. Pakistan has the highest reported rates of dowry-related deaths per 100,000 women in the world. In India, alone, there were 8,233 dowry deaths in 2012.

Reasons for Outcomes• Still growing• First birth

• Inadequate prenatal care• Low socioeconomic status

Poor Health Outcomes

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

HDI Rank

% married girls aged 15-19

Chad

Sources: PRB 2000 State of the World's Youth; UNDP HDR 2002

Brazil

U.S.

India

MaliBangladesh

Indonesia

Child Marriage and Rank on

Human Development Index (HDI)

Reasons: Why Does Child Marriage

Persist?• Gender roles

– Families see girls as financial and social burdens– Lack of socially acceptable alternatives for girls

• Family and community honor tied to early marriage– Reinforce ties between families and communities– Desire to protect girls

• Lack of political will• Cultural norm

Conclusions

• -Just like the HDI, the GDI and GEM divide countries into high, medium, and low areas of development.

• --Gender inequality in income, education, and political power is a global problem.

BEGIN GLOBAL STATUS OF WOMEN

SCAVENGER HUNT…