1.1 Pro: increased self-esteem (through consumption)
According to Suárez and Libardoni (141) , the increased purchasing power of women collecting the Bolsa Família has led to an increased status of these women as consumers, and thus to an increased level of self-esteem.
Hunter and Sugiyama conducted a field research which endorsed this finding; female beneficiaries felt alleviated now that they were no longer in debt with local shop owners. They felt an increased amount of status now that they were able to directly pay for their goods at the counter (835).
A similar outcome of the implementation of Progresa/Oportunidades in Mexico has been noted; women reportedly “felt that they acquired more status in their neighbourhoods, with shopkeepers
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And even though women could perceive empowerment to some degree due to receiving the grant, this empowerment would still take place within the established gender divide. Progresa, like the Bolsa Família, is based upon female beneficiaries playing their conventional, long-established roles as caretakers. Following this notion, it appears that both programs reinforce these conventional female roles, by only providing grants on the terms of good motherhood (438). Even though making female beneficiaries more central within the home could increase their status within her family, this change would still take place within the long-established labour divide. In line with this argument, Lomelí states that women taking part in CCT programs across Latin America continue acting within the established gender division. To overcome this problem, CCT programs should adopt a gender focus, and get rid of its inherent maternal and familial discourse …show more content…
An important side note is that this effect seems to be lacking in rural households. The literature on increase of female citizenship as a result of the Bolsa also shows a rather clear result, namely that it indeed increased.
Even though most research point to the fact that the Bolsa reinforces the traditional gender roles, some nuances to this conception are being presented within the literature.
And lastly, the reinforcement of the inequality of sexes/overburdening of female beneficiaries as a result of the implementation of the Bolsa has been assessed, with most studies pointing out that it did not in fact overburden women; however, a study on Mexico’s CCT program concluded the contrary.
One issue in the field requiring more extensive (quantitative) research is whether the Bolsa and other CCT programmes create dependency: i.e., does the Bolsa have a positive or negative effect on the labour supply of women? Does the implementation of the Bolsa encourage women to break through the intergenerational poverty cycle, or does it keep them locked within their traditional gender roles (i.e. conducting chores within the
In Honduras, like a majority of Latin American countries, the social context of women is relegated to the home and being a housewife. Gender relations are seen as paramount to how people interact, how business is done, political development and the general view of society as a whole. (CITE) The situation for women in Honduras, and their position juxtaposed to men, is dominated by an economically hierarchal and patriarchal society. A large part of how women are viewed or treated is based upon whether they are impoverished and live in rural outskirts of cities, or wealthier and within the city context. (CITE)
Throughout the history of society, women and men both have faced the constricting roles forced upon them, from a young age; each gender is given specific social and cultural roles to play out throughout their lives. Little girls are given dolls and kitchen toys, little boys are given dinosaurs and power tool toys, if one was to step out of this specified role, social conflict would ensue. Contrast to popular belief, sex is a biological construct, and gender is a social construct specifying the roles men and women are to follow to be accepted into society as “normal”. The effects of gender roles have had on women have proved harmful over the decades. Although the woman’s involvement in society has improved throughout the decades,
Social reproduction refers to the continuous intergenerational physically and emotionally exhausting household labour that is needed to maintain life (Trotz, lecture, Jan 13, 2016). This kind of labour though is considered to be a woman’s duty. Since an economic activity happens where there is a market, social reproduction is not considered as one as it doesn’t have a visible market. Even though, it doesn’t have market value, domestic work greatly contribute to the economy (Waring, 2013). Since this work is done in homes and by women who are usually marginalized, it remains invisible and thus not considered for pay. This kind of work depends on the traditional division of labour in which women are seen as housewives while men, breadwinners. Thus, the gendering of social reproduction is a result of “doing gender,” where women’s abilities to be mothers are naturalized (Coltrane, 1989); in other words, women are made to fit into the simplistic “domestic = family = heterosexual woman = care and love” equation (Manalansan & Martin, 2008, p.2), while any man who does the caring work in a family is feminized and considered a lesser man (Coltrane, 1989).Thus, a woman’s femininity depends on her motherhood while a man’s masculinity depends on “not doing mother’s work” (Coltrane, 1989, p.473).
In conclusion, the most compelling argument found during both articles was the willingness of women to move forward and support their families, no matter the cost or the inequalities found between their male counterparts. I have always heard said that ‘women are the backbone of society’. Now, this
Mexican women are still suffering from discrimination, violence, inequality and disparity. Mexican society in general has been classified, as a male-dominated society, in which women did not have the same rights as men and they are being branded by their sex. Women in Mexico are still fighting hard to be appropriate in their own country and gain their basic human rights, their right to belong, their right to live and their right to be treated with dignity. In this essay I will explore some of the difficulties and issues Mexican women had and still have to deal with within their daily life.
is routine work, little glory, and low pay, men prove willing to admit women to equal share in the spoils office ”. Once they gained more political influence, women were eager “to continue the reforms of the Progressive era” . Called by the scholars as “maternalistic” approach, women sought to improve the conditions of poor women and children. They lobbied with a success for “education and industrial reform, wage and hour laws for working women, a wide range of child health problems on the state level, as well as a broad extension of women’s legal rights” .
Research Question: What is the effect of gender representation on welfare policies on the state level?
Regarding females in the workplace, the common opinion across the American continent used to be that by working outside the home, women were abandoning their primary job in life—that of a mother and wife, taking care of the house and the family. In modern times, Latinas take on multiple roles; not only are they still expected to look put together and run the family and the household—for most Latinas in the US, without any outside help—, but many are also breadwinners, some by choice and others by default. The decision made by many Latinas to work has already changed society due to growing feelings of self-empowerment. This newly discovered power is reflected in the increased use of contraceptives by Latin American women. Despite the Roman Catholic teachings, Latinas have taken matters into their own hands by using birth control to decrease the size of their families and lessen their burden, thus allowing them to fulfill their multidimensional desires and duties.
This has started a series of litigations by the "third gender" who has, till date, been denied her capacity to chose and function both as pillars of the family and working professionals. The organization has to recognize the role of working mothers in the larger interest of society and make the minimum
The history of the world is a complex arrangement of happenings and occurrences that have shaped the current state of civilization. At a fundamental level, history is the driving force behind every element of society that exists today. Within history, there are several factors that have and continue to determine the way in which our society functions. One of the most significant of these factors is gender. Today, conceptions, viewpoints and ideas surrounding gender are always changing. It is this fluidity of thought that ultimately allows society to progress forward and create change. However, gender has not always been as openly discussed. Tracing back through history, gender has consistently been a point of identity among humans.
Poverty has increasingly become a noticeable issue worldwide over the past couple of decades. With the middle class steadily decreasing, considerable amounts of people are becoming part of the lower class, and even more of our world’s population are beginning to live in poverty. It is important to understand there are different definitions of poverty, and that is largely determined by what each country’s government determines as the cut off of poverty, otherwise known as the ‘poverty line’. Although some people could live above the poverty line, and still be struggling financially, it goes unrecognized by most research collection. However, what was initially noticed around the 1970’s is that there was a significant rise in women’s poverty statistics. More female-headed households were living in poverty, and a majority of those women belonged to a minority. This recognizable trend has been deemed the ‘feminization of poverty’, which according research is not only a growing problem in North America, but several other countries around the world. Information gathered about this issue in the United States shows that female-headed households is by far the fastest growing type of family structure, and due to the fact there is a growing poverty level amongst this group, it now means that approximately half of the all the poor in the United States live in a women-headed family and household. (Gimenez, 1999, p. 336) The biggest question when is comes to this particular topic is why?
Women and men have had certain roles in society that were understood amongst them to be specified for their particular gender. Males were known to have the leading role as head of the house hold and the bread winner while the woman’s duty was to stay at home and take care of the house and children. While many people years ago deemed this way of life and practice to be the right and ethical thing to do, times have changed and so this kind of treatment towards a woman’s equality must be questioned. Even though times have changed, this mindset of a woman’s ability to be as good as a man has not completely gone away. In today’s society a woman contributes to the economy and her family as equally as that of a man. Therefore, women should share equal rights and opportunities as their gender counterparts.
In many developing countries globalization has brought masses of wealth to the elite at the expense of the poor. Consequently, many women of the poorer classes leave their homeland in search of opportunities for employment. These women are disproportionately affected by
The second chapter discussed the international division of reproductive labour and the reasons why women may choose to become migrant workers. Often times the common answer of why these Filipina women made the decision to enter the reproductive labour force is one based on both economic and gender inequality reasoning. Gender is now seen as the hidden cause of migration, where women are taking on the role of the income provider and it is a strategy that can “relieve women of their unequal division of labour with men in the family.” (Parreñas, 2015 – pg. 32) Through the three tier system there is honestly no gender-egalitarian way that the division occurs, because their own responsibilities are given to those who are less privileged for less benefits.
Ever since the dawn of time, women and men have been associated with specific gender roles that can be seen controversial in the eyes of many. Traits and roles associated with a specific gender can be either innate or learned over time. Looking into the deeper concept of gender roles and stereotypes, it is clear that these fixed gender roles are not naturally born with, but rather taught, learned, or influenced by external forces.