Gender and development: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:02, 15 April 2024

Revision as of 22:20, 15 April 2024

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''Introduction''

Gender identity formation in early childhood is an important aspect of child development, shaping how individuals see themselves and others in terms of gender (Martin & Ruble, 2010).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Martin |first=Carol Lynn |last2=Ruble |first2=Diane N. |date=2010 |title=Patterns of gender development |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19575615/ |journal=Annual Review of Psychology |volume=61 |pages=353–381 |doi=10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100511 |issn=1545-2085 |pmc=3747736 |pmid=19575615}}</ref>. It encompasses the understanding and internalization of societal norms, roles, and expectations associated with a specific gender. As time progresses, there becomes more outlets for these gender roles to be influenced due to the increase outlets of new media. This developmental process begins early and is influenced by various factors, including socialization, cultural norms, and individual experiences. Understanding and addressing gender roles in childhood is essential for promoting healthy identity development and fostering gender equity (Martin & Ruble, 2010).<ref name=":0" />.

''Observations of Gender Identity Formation''

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''Influence of Materials and Teacher Expectations''

The materials provided in the classroom and the requirements established by teachers can influence children's behavior and interactions (Solomon, 2016).<ref name=":3" />. For instance, offering a diverse range of toys, books, and activities can help encourage these children to explore interests outside of traditional gender roles that are trying to be established by external sources (Martin & Ruble, 2013).<ref name=":0" />. Also, creating an environment where all children feel valued regardless of gender can help challenge stereotypes and promote ideal socialization experiences. By being aware of the materials and messages conveyed in the classroom, educators can create an environment that fosters gender diversity and empowers children to express themselves authentically (Solomon 2016<ref name=":3" />).

''Children's Desire and Search for Power''

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''Early Acquisition of Gender Roles''

Children begin to internalize gender roles from a young age, often as early as infancy. By preschool age, many children have developed some form of understanding on gender stereotypes and expectations (King, 2021<ref>{{Cite journal |last=King |first=Tania L |last2=Scovelle |first2=Anna J |last3=Meehl |first3=Anneke |last4=Milner |first4=Allison J |last5=Priest |first5=Naomi |date=June 2021-06 |title=Gender stereotypes and biases in early childhood: A systematic review |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1836939121999849 |journal=Australasian Journal of Early Childhood |language=en |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=112–125 |doi=10.1177/1836939121999849 |issn=1836-9391}}</ref>). These stereotypes are established through various sources, including family, friends, media outlets, and cultural ideals, shaping children's understanding and behaviors related to gender. Education systems, parental influence, and media and store influence can contribute as many of these influences associated different colors with different genders, different influential figures, as well as different toys that are supposed to cater to a specific gender.

''Expressions and Behavior Reflecting Gender Development''

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GAD departs from WID, which discussed women's subordination and lack of inclusion in discussions of international development without examining broader systems of gender relations.<ref>{{cite report|last=Razavi|first=Shahrashoub|author2=Carol Miller|title=From WID to GAD: Conceptual Shifts in the Women and Development Discourse|date=1 February 1995|page=3|hdl=10419/148819|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Influenced by this work, by the late 1970s, some practitioners working in the development field questioned focusing on women in isolation.<ref name="Razavi 1995 12">{{cite report|last=Razavi|first=Shahrashoub|author2=Carol Miller|title=From WID to GAD: Conceptual Shifts in the Women and Development Discourse|date=1 February 1995|page=12|hdl=10419/148819|hdl-access=free}}</ref> GAD challenged the WID focus on women as an important ‘target group’<ref>{{cite report|last=Razavi|first=Shahrashoub|author2=Carol Miller|title=From WID to GAD: Conceptual Shifts in the Women and Development Discourse|date=1 February 1995|page=8|hdl=10419/148819|hdl-access=free}}</ref> and ‘untapped resources’ for development.<ref>{{cite book|last=Moser|first=Caroline|title=Gender Planning and Development. Theory, Practice and Training|year=1993|publisher=Routledge|___location=New York|isbn=978-0-203-41194-0 |page=2}}</ref> GAD marked a shift in thinking about the need to understand how women and men are socially constructed and how ‘those constructions are powerfully reinforced by the social activities that both define and are defined by them.’<ref name="Razavi 1995 12" /> GAD focuses primarily on the gendered division of labor and gender as a relation of power embedded in institutions.<ref name="Reeves 2000 8" /> Consequently, two major frameworks, ‘Gender roles’ and ‘social relations analysis’, are used in this approach.<ref>{{cite report|last=Razavi|first=Shahrashoub|author2=Carol Miller|title=From WID to GAD: Conceptual Shifts in the Women and Development Discourse|date=1 February 1995|page=13|hdl=10419/148819|hdl-access=free}}</ref> 'Gender roles' focuses on the social construction of identities within the household; it also reveals the expectations from ‘maleness and femaleness’<ref name="Razavi 1995 12" /> in their relative access to resources. 'Social relations analysis' exposes the social dimensions of hierarchical power relations embedded in social institutions, as well as its determining influence on ‘the relative position of men and women in society.’<ref name="Razavi 1995 12" /> This relative positioning tends to discriminate against women.<ref>{{cite book|last=Reeves|first=Hazel|title=Gender and Development: Concepts and Definitions|year=2000|___location=Brighton|isbn=1-85864-381-3|page=18}}</ref>

Unlike WID, the GAD approach is not concerned specifically with women, but with the way in which a society assigns roles, responsibilities and expectations to both women and men. GAD applies [[gender analysis]] to uncover the ways in which men and women work together, presenting results in neutral terms of economics and efficiency.{{sfn|Shifting views...}} In an attempt to create gender equality (denoting women having the same opportunities as men, including ability to participate in the public sphere),<ref>Development Assistance Committee (DAC), 1998, p.7</ref> GAD policies aim to redefine traditional gender role expectations. Women are expected to fulfill household management tasks, home-based production as well as bearing and raising children and caring for family members. In terms of children, they develop social constructions through observations at a younger age than most people think. Children tend to learn about the differences between male and female actions and objects of use in a specific culture of their environment through observation (Chung & Huang 2021<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Chung |first=Yi |last2=Huang |first2=Hsin-Hui |date=2021-12-10 |title=Cognitive-Based Interventions Break Gender Stereotypes in Kindergarten Children |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34948661/ |journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |volume=18 |issue=24 |pages=13052 |doi=10.3390/ijerph182413052 |issn=1660-4601 |pmc=8700911 |pmid=34948661}}</ref>). Around three years old, children learn about stability of gender and demonstrate stereotyping similar to adults regarding toys, clothes, activities, games, colors, and even specific personality descriptions. (2021<ref name=":4" />). By five years of age, they begin to develop identity and to possess stereotyping of personal–social attributes (2021<ref name=":4" />). At that age of their life, children think that they are more similar to their same-gender peers and are likely to compare themselves with characteristics that fit the gender stereotype. After entering primary school, children’s gender stereotyping extends to more dimensions, such as career choices, sports, motives to learn subjects which has an impact on the cognition of individuals (2021).<ref name=":4" />. The role of a wife is largely interpreted as 'the responsibilities of motherhood.'<ref>{{cite report|last=Razavi|first=Shahrashoub|author2=Carol Miller|title=From WID to GAD: Conceptual Shifts in the Women and Development Discourse|date=1 February 1995|page=30|hdl=10419/148819|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Men, however, are expected to be breadwinners, associated with paid work and market production.<ref name="Reeves 2000 8" /> In the labor market, women tend to earn less than men. For instance, 'a study by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found massive pay inequities in some United Kingdom's top finance companies, women received around 80 percent less performance-related pay than their male colleagues.'<ref>{{cite journal|last=Prügl|first=Elizabeth|title=''If Lehman Brothers Had Been Lehman Sisters...'': Gender and Myth in the Aftermath of the Financial Crisis|journal=International Political Sociology|date=14 March 2012|volume=6|issue=1|page=25|doi=10.1111/j.1749-5687.2011.00149.x}}</ref> In response to pervasive gender inequalities, [[Fourth World Conference on Women#Beijing Platform for Action|Beijing Platform for Action]] established [[gender mainstreaming]] in 1995 as a strategy across all policy areas at all levels of governance for achieving gender equality.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2015|title=Re-Thinking Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality in 2015 and Beyond|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/BSP/GENDER/PDF/BPEN.pdf|journal=United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|pages=2–7}}</ref>

GAD has been largely utilized in debates regarding development but this trend is not seen in the actual practice of developmental agencies and plans for development.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=Gender and the Political Economy of Development|last=Rai|first=Shirin M.|publisher=Polity|year=2002|isbn=0-7456-1490-6|___location=Malden|pages=44–83|chapter=Gender and Development}}</ref> [[Caroline Moser]] claims WID persists due to the challenging nature of GAD, but [[Shirin M. Rai]] counters this claim noting that the real issue lies in the tendency to overlap WID and GAD in policy. Therefore, it would only be possible if development agencies fully adopted GAD language exclusively.<ref name=":5" /> Caroline Moser developed the [[Moser Gender Planning Framework]] for GAD-oriented development planning in the 1980s while working at the Development Planning Unit of the [[University of London]]. Working with Caren Levy, she expanded it into a methodology for gender policy and planning.{{sfn|March|Smyth|Mukhopadhyay|1999|pp = 55}}

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Women have been identified by some development institutions as a key to successful development, for example through financial inclusion. Microcredit is giving small loans to people in poverty without collateral. This was first started by [[Muhammad Yunus]], who formed the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.microworld.org/en/about-microworld/about-microcredit|title=Story of the microcredit|website=www.microworld.org|access-date=2018-03-01}}</ref> Studies have showed that women are more likely to repay their debt than men, and the Grameen Bank focuses on aiding women.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Economics of Microfinance|last=Armendáriz|first=Beatriz|publisher=MIT Press|year=2010|isbn=9780262014106|___location=Cambridge|pages=14}}</ref> This financial opportunity allows women to start their own businesses for a steady income.<ref>{{cite journal|last=H|first=Scott|date=2006|title=Book Review: Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle against World Poverty|journal=Review of Radical Political Economics|volume=38|issue=2|pages=280–283|doi=10.1177/0486613405285433|s2cid=153331749}}</ref> Women have been the focus of microcredit for their subsequent increased status as well as the overall well-being of the home being improved when given to women rather than men.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Household Decisions, Gender, and Development: A Synthesis of Recent Research|last=Sharma|first=Manohar|publisher=International Food Policy Research Institute|year=2003|isbn=0-89629-717-9|editor-last=Quisumbing|editor-first=Agnes R.|___location=Washington DC|pages=195–199|chapter=Microfinance}}</ref>

There were numerous case studies done in Tanzania about the correlation of the role of [[Microfinance in Tanzania|SACCoS]] (savings and credit cooperative organization) and the economic development of the country. The research showed that the microfinance policies were not being carried out in the most efficient ways due to exploitation.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Brennan|first=James R.|date=November 2006|journal=The Journal of African History|volume=47|issue=3|pages=389–413|doi=10.1017/S0021853706001794|issn=1469-5138|title=Blood Enemies: Exploitation and Urban Citizenship in the Nationalist Political Thought of Tanzania, 1958–75|s2cid=144117250|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/4155/1/BloodEnemies.pdf}}</ref> One case study went a step further to claim that this financial service could provide a more equal society for women in Tanzania.<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Cooper|first=Lucy-George|date=April 22, 2014|title=The Impact of Microfinance on Female Entrepreneurs in Tanzania|url=https://publications.lakeforest.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=seniortheses |type=Bachelor's |publisher=Lake Forstest College |oclc=ocn892344250}}{{bsnbetter source needed|date=April 2023|reason=Per [[WP:SCHOLARSHIP]] only published PhDs are considered reliable sources}}</ref>

While there are such cases in which women were able to lift themselves out of poverty, there are also cases in which women fell into a [[poverty trap]] as they were unable to repay their loans.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/11/01/500093608/you-asked-we-answer-can-tiny-loans-lift-women-out-of-poverty|title=You Asked, We Answer: Can Microloans Lift Women Out Of Poverty?|work=NPR.org|access-date=2018-03-01}}</ref> It is even said that microcredit is actually an "anti-developmental" approach.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bateman, Chang|first=Milford, Ha-Joon|date=2012|title=Microfinance and the Illusion of Development: From Hubris to Nemesis in Thirty Years|url=http://wer.worldeconomicsassociation.org/files/WER-Vol1-No1-Article2-Bateman-and-Chang-v2.pdf|journal=World Economic Review|volume=1|pages=13–36}}</ref> There is little evidence of significant development for these women within the 30 years that the microfinance has been around.<ref>{{cite book|title=Gender, development, and globalization: economics as if all people mattered|last=Benería|first=Lourdes|publisher=New York ; London : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group|year=2016|isbn=9780415537483|pages=106}}</ref> In South Africa, unemployment is high due to the introduction of microfinance, more so than it was under apartheid.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Banerjee|first1=Abhijit|last2=Galiani|first2=Sebastian|last3=Levinsohn|first3=Jim|last4=McLaren|first4=Zoë|last5=Woolard|first5=Ingrid|title=Why Has Unemployment Risen in the New South Africa |journal=NBER Working Paper No. 13167 |date=June 2007 |doi=10.3386/w13167|doi-access=free}}</ref> Microcredit intensified poverty in Johannesburg, South Africa as poor communities, mostly women, who needed to repay debt were forced to work in the informal sector.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cohen|first=Jennifer|date=July 2010|title=How the global economic crisis reaches marginalised workers: the case of street traders in Johannesburg, South Africa|journal=Gender and Development|volume=18|issue=2|pages=277–289|doi=10.1080/13552074.2010.491345|s2cid=154585808}}</ref>