Gender Discrimination in Third World Countries

 

Shiva discusses capitalization and the westernization of Third World Countries and womens’ struggle for liberation from this development.  She explains that the economic and political processes “bore the clear mark of modern western patriarchy, and while large numbers of women and men were impoverished by these processes, women tended to lose more” (Shiva).  According to a 1997 Human Development Report, “no society treats its women as well as its men” (Edmonds). Worldwide, women only hold about 15 percent of government positions and men are twice as likely to have better jobs and (Shah). Women are limited in the workplace concerning their potential of achieving better positions, fair wages, and are penalized for child-birth. According to a 2007 article on “Women’s Rights Worldwide,” in developing countries females are less likely to receive adequate food, health care, and economic opportunities while they are more likely to be the victim of sexual and domestic abuse (Women).

 Cynthia Enloe wrote an interesting article in 1984 about the actual advancements women realized from the development in Third World Countries. Enloe states, “The patriarchal restrictions on women’s capacity to control their own lives being merely modernized, not overturned” (Enloe). Women are now allowed to earn their own wages, but this does not offer them any independence in a male dominated environment. Women were hired in the workforce mainly to minimize labor costs (Enloe). In countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, El Salvador, Tunisia and Brazil, women are recruited to work in the factories, working long hours, and are put in positions that demand the least amount of training with the lowest pay. These positions have few opportunities to learn increased skills and little opportunity for better pay.  Women are hired on the sexist assumptions that they are docile, passive, and less of a security risk. Many American, European, and Japanese managers fire women when they marry or become pregnant to avoid paying higher wages (Enloe). Still today in most third world countries, girls are kept out of school to help with household chores and husbands are most often granted custody of the children in the case of a divorce. This forces women into a submissive position eliminating any empowerment from earning their own money from being employed. 

References:

 Enloe, Cynthia H. (1984). Third World Women in Factories. Women in a Changing World. Cultural Survival, Inc. Retrieved fromhttp://www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublications/csq/article/third-world-women-factories

Shah, Anup. (2010). Women’s Rights. Global Issues. Retrieved from http://www.globalissues.org/article/166/womens-rights

Edmonds, Molly. 10 Examples of Gender Inequality Around the World. Discovery. Retrieved from  http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/examples-gender-inequality-around-world.htm

http://womensrightsworldwide.org/