Women contribute a lot to society,
but they have always been cheated out of the reward that their work is worth. It
is sad that oftentimes, it is said that women-led households are the poorest. If
women are paid for their domestic work which is termed informal, then women
will be better off financially. In most countries in Africa, women are tasked
with the responsibility of taking care of the household, from fetching
firewood, to getting water for household use, and feeding animals and the human
beings in the household. Women lead all these activities that make a home run
smooth.
This work is regarded as
informal work, which women do not receive any pay or compensation for. Can you
imagine if women were paid for the domestic and emotional labor they put into
their households? Women will be rich and thrive in their households. This will eliminate
the notion that women-led households are poor, and that poverty cannot be feminized.
Also, the idea that women
live in their workspace and that’s where they call home is so true. For other
types of work, we have a place to go to what we call work and return home at
the end of the day, but for a woman who is constantly doing housework, there is
no such thing. The workplace is also where they live and call home. This makes
me see all the struggles that women go through and how much work they do and
that should not be taken for granted.
Microfinance corporations or
organizations have capitalized on this disadvantage of women. Microfinance organizations
offer soft loans to women who wish to go into business and those who are
already in business to expand. In Ghana, micro finances target small-scale
market women. They are given money to expand their businesses, while others get
money to start their business. This is a way to empower women to take charge of
their finances and better their homes, especially in single-mother households.
I am a firm believer that women contribute immensely to society and they should be compensated accordingly, however, that is not the case in our society. I look forward to a time when this will be our reality.
I enjoyed reading your post, and you made some solid arguments as far as gender and development are concerned. Ghanaian society must confront cultural biases that continue to disadvantage women. More men should be involved in GAD policies to shift cultural attitudes that systematically disadvantage women in our society.
ReplyDeleteNice post!
ReplyDeleteI think this is in tandem with one of the articles we read in the past week that was titled Reassessing Paid Work and Women's Empowerment; Lessons From the Global Economy. I'm not sure I remember the name of the author but I know the author was concerned with women's poverty, status, and autonomy resting implicitly or unexamined assumptions about the relationship between paid work and women's empowerment.
While the "Engelian Myth" is still today's reality, I look forward to a time when informal jobs would also be put into consideration.
Thank you Salena for your post, it is very informative. It has a similar issue like Cambodia. Although Cambodian law stated that chore is also considered to be paid labor. Nevertheless chores at households are not valued; women do not get paid for doing chores. Women are very likely to be the one who are responsible for taking care of this household and families. Men holds strong power over women in running family-like decisions making. I believe either women or men choosing to perform the informal work for example chores, it is family personal choice however it should share the same value to paid work.
ReplyDeleteThank you for touching on this topic Selina. The household chores women perform is always taken for granted. This reminds me of the Meena Bilgi’s material on ‘Entering Women’s World through Men’s Eyes’ where the men underestimated the chores performed by women in the house and the number of hours they spend doing these works until they realized women do more work and work more hours than they expected. These working hours are not clearly seen due to the fact that most women live in their working space as Selina stated. Considering the number of hours women dedicate performing household chores, I also believe female-headed household poverty wouldn’t have been a thing if they were being paid. The question however still remains "would this ever be possible? If yes, who pays them for this work done in the household"?
ReplyDeleteThis is great Selina, making reference to Maureen's comment about the book we read for one of our classes I have personally thought about why household chores are termed as a woman's work and people often underestimate this role. Even in formal office settings, certain domestic duties are expected of women, and these are not even factored in the wages paid. Women are allowed to perform these duties and when big decisions about the family comes up men are those that are allowed to make them and sometimes disregard the stand or interest of the woman. I am hoping there will come a time where people can have extensive conversations about this topic.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this entry. It reminded me how women in Egypt started to use the social media platforms as an informal work space. The kitchen traditionally is the symbolic nature of domesticity in the Arab countries, and has frequently kept women chained to domestic duty, and out of the work force. But the growth of social media platforms, YouTube in particular, is transforming the power relations for Egyptian women, permitting them to change the kitchen into a virtual public space for them and a source of income and influence. Food now is one of the highest four categories on YouTube in the MENA area. For most of these Egyptian women, cooking was previously an interest or something they did for their children, even as their motives changed for taking it online. For all, though, seeing an interest usually cast as feminine taken seriously and recognized by those around them has been inspiring. And understanding that their online work from the kitchen can help to open a slot for the Egyptian women to be exist in the public space, also receiving a profit has allowed the women to win financial independence, respect and a sense of meaning that maybe over the years would bring them to the real public space.
ReplyDelete