I have always thought that gender is a word that refers to women only until I started to learn about gender issues in the last couple of years and knew that gender refers to both men and women. I guess I had that presumption because women in a developing country like Palestine, which is under the Israeli occupation, are still struggling to gain their basic rights. I was surprised to see this confusion about what really gender is in Lorber’s (2004) article. However, in Palestine, I could say that women have reached a certain level of gender equality, yet it is not satisfying because I see it as superficial for two main reasons.
First, when I say women, this does not include all women in all sectors of the society. Women who were and are able to, for example, participate in the political life or get a decent job represent a certain category of women, who belong to a rich and/or highly educated family. This is not to make generalizations, but it is quite common. The other reason is that kind of equality or representation of women does not have that great impact in positively changing the stereotypes about women's roles or enhancing the position of women in the society. I see it as a collective aspiration that lacks a clear plan and results in individualistic achievements on the ground.
First, when I say women, this does not include all women in all sectors of the society. Women who were and are able to, for example, participate in the political life or get a decent job represent a certain category of women, who belong to a rich and/or highly educated family. This is not to make generalizations, but it is quite common. The other reason is that kind of equality or representation of women does not have that great impact in positively changing the stereotypes about women's roles or enhancing the position of women in the society. I see it as a collective aspiration that lacks a clear plan and results in individualistic achievements on the ground.
A good example of this is the organization that I used to work for back home. It is a local human rights organization that established a women’s right unit as a part of its various units. Women representation in the entire organization constitutes around 75% of the overall staff. It is a rate to be proud of, but quantity does not suffice to reflect the quality of this representation, especially in an organization that is male-dominated on the administration level. Moreover, a significant aspect that combines gender and development, which has a negative influence on women representation “quota”, is that such organizations care about the funds they receive from abroad. Therefore, they behave in accordance with the international donors’ policies. This again contributes to the superficiality of gender equality and women’s quota politically, socially…etc.
Having these policies imposed by external organizations, the positive change of women status will not go beyond a numeric value. Therefore, gender-related issues should be included in the educational system in the first place and be adopted by the society to make a difference. I should be fair to all women who have great success stories in their struggle for other women back home, yet this remains an individual and random voice that a government and its, inter alia, political, judicial and institutional bodies will not listen to. It is a sad reality that reflects the strong connection between gender issues and development policies that both do not rise from within the society itself.
Following are Facts and Figures about Leadership and Political Participation in Palestine, which supports my argument. Looking at these figures could reflect the positive side of women representation but let us have a closer look at the type of posts women hold.
PS: This blog post is based on the first week readings but I was not able to publish it for technical reasons.
Summer, I read with great enthusiasm your posting. The fact that it is a first-hand account from a Palestinian makes it invaluable. It was especially interesting to see your interpretation of the UN Women figures – yet another external actor in the area. While women may be counted, women are not just numbers indeed. You’re right that a closer look into the qualitative data is absolutely warranted.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that though, one should recognize the positive impact of the foreign assistance on mitigating gender disparities in developing regions. Undoubtedly, any positive trend is slow. But there is no quick fix to such complex matters. Perhaps, some local specifics call for a careful approach, as well.
Even the countries best ranked in terms of gender equality have been through formation stages before reaching their current condition. They have surely been through some of the frictions described in your posting. Moreover, the situation is not ideal even today in those countries, and their achievements are often at risk of backsliding if not closely monitored and continuously advanced.
While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, I think it is worth looking at the experience of those “veteran” countries. That experience is often embodied in the development assistance programs and projects run by organizations like UN Women which you referred to in your post. They often leave a legacy of standards and best practices through their field operations which are then perpetuated by the grass-roots organizations such as probably the one you used to work with.
Thank you so much for sharing your reflections!