1 / 17

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

drew
Download Presentation

WOMEN, GENDER, AND EMPOWERMENT

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

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

  11. 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”

  12. 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)

  13. 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)

  14. Comparisons with the United States?

  15. 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?

More Related