Cross-Cultural Psychology Lecture 4. Women and Gender Roles

Cross-Cultural Psychology Lecture 4. Women and Gender Roles in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Cultural influence on gender roles The Feminist movement Gender roles in cross-cultural consideration. Education as a crucial point for the progress of women’s equality with men.

The Cultural Influence on gender roles cannot be overestimated. - Effects of gender – appropriate behavior is apparent even before birth (fetus is active or calm / a boy or a girl) - Most infants do not show gender differences, however, they experience different physical and social environments (more rough-housing or more talk)

E. O. Wilson (1978): culture helps shape the genders. ‘Striving for the ‘perfect’ state of transcendence of gender roles means to eliminate or modify gender roles so that all individuals can develop their own potentialities in their own right, unhindered by adherence to the stereotypes of gender roles.’

David G. Myers (1990): three ways to minimize gender roles. Women behave more like men, showing assertiveness in social interactions. Men show traditional feminine behaviors, such as nurturance and cooperativeness. Both sexes acquire androgynous traits, which include both traditional feminine and masculine traits. Androgyny allows men to pursue ‘typical’ women’s professions, such as nursing, and women to take the ‘traditional’ men’s jobs, among them those of bus drivers.

Distribution of values between the genders across nations. Studies reveal: women’s values differ less among societies than men’s values Men’s values from one country to another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and maximally different from women’s values on the one side to modest and caring and similar to women’s values on the other.

The assertive pole has been called ‘masculine’. The modest, caring pole – ‘feminine’ In feminine countries women have the same modest, caring values as men. In masculine countries women are somewhat assertive and competitive, but not as much as men, so these countries show a gap between men’s values and women’s values.

Feminist Movement. During World War II, women entered the workplace in great numbers to replace the men After the war many women did not find domestic work as satisfying but prefer to have a career and earn money to help upgrade the standards of living for the family. During the 1970s women gathered together in the feminist movement to achieve equal rights with men. Industrialization has had a profound effect on women’s roles in society The importance of women’s domestics role has been diminishing.

K. Lowenstein (1991): the pendulum has certainly swung from women being in a very subordinate position in relation to men in society generally to one in which women are, if not equal, approaching equality and in some cases have usurped the role of the man ‘totally’.

Some outstanding women: Tunsu Giller – PM of Turkey Hanna Suchocka – PM of Poland Corason Aquino – Philippines past president Madame Edith Cresson – past PM of France Golda Meir – past PM of Israel Indira Gandhi – past PM of India Queen Elizabeth II Margaret Thatcher Queen Beatrice of Netherlands Yet, only 3-4% of women members in the two Houses of Parliament; app 5% of the seats for women in US Congress; 13 % - in National Parliament in Canada Conclusion: as compared to men, women continue to play a lesser role in managing the affairs of the state.

‘Exceptions to the rule’. Women of the Tharu tribe in North India run the government. ( the men are dependent and of low status) In these communities the status of a father is enhanced by the birth of a girl. Women in Western Samoa in South Pacific are appointed to be their chief and represent them in the village council ( on the consensus of the adults of each household). Their responsibilities are: overseeing family affairs, directing the use of family land, assigning tasks according to age and sex of the members

Is Education guaranteed equally for women and men everywhere? Unfortunately, in many Third World Countries girls are not favored and their education is nonexistent or too limited. However, in most developed and some developing countries school is compulsory for all children. (In US and Canada 51% of all students are women)

Education, family, traditions…. In the Past; Islamic countries did not practice formal education for girls. Egypt: primary schools were finally opened to girls; However: Egyptian men often seek wives who are less educated since they do not take outside jobs and work only inside home. Sudan: enrollment of girls is increasing (though remains less than that of boys at all 3 educational levels/ especially in rural areas) ‘Educating girls may be one of the Country’s best investments toward future growth and progress.’

India: both middle-class boys and girls receive education. (it is easier for parents to find husbands for their daughters, since educated women can find higher-earning jobs) Thailand: higher education is favored among women. They gain greater access to legal, political, economic, social resources.

China: attendance in school is not mandatory, so women, especially in rural areas, are illiterate, their families need them to work. Taiwan: school attendance is mandatory to the ninth grade. Western Samoa and New Zealand: compulsory education from 5 to 17.

Home assignment Compile your knowledge/observation of Kazakh cultural influence on gender roles, femininity/masculinity society, educational and social status of women.