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WOMEN, GENDER, AND EMPOWERMENT

WOMEN, GENDER, AND EMPOWERMENT. RESOURCES. Modern Latin America chs. 7, 11 (Colombia, Chile) Htun, “Women and Democracy” (CR #3) Video” “In Women’s Hands”. STEREOTYPES. Powerless in a macho world Passivity, docility Focus on family, children

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WOMEN, GENDER, AND EMPOWERMENT

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  1. WOMEN, GENDER, AND EMPOWERMENT

  2. RESOURCES • Modern Latin America chs. 7, 11 (Colombia, Chile) • Htun, “Women and Democracy” (CR #3) • Video” “In Women’s Hands”

  3. STEREOTYPES • Powerless in a macho world • Passivity, docility • Focus on family, children • Lack of interest in politics and public sphere • Marianismo (a controversial concept)

  4. WOMEN’S INTERESTS • Feminine or feminist? • Practical interests = position within gendered division of labor • Strategic interests = alternative social codes deriving from broad analysis of women’s subordination • Difference from U.S. interests in economic equality (e.g., glass ceiling) and sexual liberation; emphasis on distinctiveness of womanhood

  5. WOMEN AND AUTHORITARIANISM • Compliance: courtship by dictators • Opposition: merger of practical and strategic interests • Articulation of demands: • Mothers (and Grandmothers) of Plaza de Mayo in Argentina • Arpilleristas in Chile • “militant motherhood” in Brazil • Pro-democratic, left-of-center orientation

  6. WOMEN IN TRANSITIONS TOWARD DEMOCRACY • Urgency of institutional agenda > concern for gender-related issues • Backlog of impatient men • Gender identity giving way to partisan affiliation • Loss of solidarity

  7. SOURCES OF EMPOWERMENT • Participation in labor force (23 % in 1970, 35% by 2000) • Education (half of university students) • Significant share of electorate • Desire for change (and attitudes about women’s superiority in selected issue-areas) • International reputation (?)

  8. Women in Latin American Legislatures, 1990-2010 WOMEN (AS % TOTAL)* Country 1990 2000 2010 Argentina 5 27 39 Bolivia 9 12 25 Brazil 5 6 9 Chile 6 11 14 Colombia 9 12 -- Ecuador 7 15 32 El Salvador -- 10 19 Guatemala 7 9 12 Mexico 12 16 26 Paraguay 4 3 13 Peru 6 20 28 Uruguay 6 12 15 Venezuela 10 10 -- — = not available.

  9. ON QUOTAS • To be effective, must be: • Obligatory • Placement mandate • Cost for non-compliance • Most congenial electoral systems: • Proportional representation • Closed party lists • Large districts (i.e., deputies per district)

  10. VOTING PATTERNS • Traditional “gender gap” • More conservative than men • Chile 1999: Right garnered 51% of women votes, Concertación 49%; Right got only 46% of male votes, Concertación 54% • Right is now appealing to traditional family values • Women’s issues • Rarely top-priority campaign platforms • Success in agenda-setting > policy implementation • “Women, in order to be important politically, can’t talk about gender issues”

  11. ABORTION • Central issue on feminist agenda • Still prohibited in several countries (including Uruguay and Chile) • Common: permitted “if health or life of mother at risk” (as certified by…..) • Available on demand: • Cuba • Mexico City (DF, under leftist PRD)

  12. WOMEN PRESIDENTS • Generation I: Widows • Isabel Martínez de Perón (Argentina) • Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (Nicaragua) • Mireya Moscoso (Panama) • Generation II: Self-Made Politicians • Michelle Bachelet (Chile) • Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (Argentina) • Laura Chinchilla (Costa Rica) • Dilma Rousseff (Brazil)

  13. Comparisons with the United States?

  14. CONTRASTS WITH USA • Issues: Feminism and Women’s Interests • Glass ceiling vs. household survival • Sexual liberation vs. domestic violence • Power-seeking vs. pro-human rights • Middle class vs. popular level • Social Movements and Political Parties • Stridency vs. incrementalism • Autonomous social movements or established parties • Gender gap in voting • Confrontation with authoritarian rulers • Ambiguities of democratic rule • Representation in legislatures, cabinets, executive positions?

  15. LEGISLATURES • Gain of 35 %, from 14 to 19 % (2000-2006) • USA = 17 % • World average = 18.6%

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