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Women 's Role During The Mining Industry

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. Due to measures that prevent women from engaging in some of the roles in the mining industry, women’s roles in gold production have become marginalized, less lucrative, and are often overlooked (Hinton et al. 2003). In the Talensi mining industry, the existence of gender-specific jobs and the perception of the men that women should perform roles the men do not want to perform contributes to women’s marginal roles and affects their inability to realize the full benefits of the industry. According to Hinton et al. (2003), women would not be able to realize the full potential of the mining industry unless their activities attracted the attention of researchers and policy makers. The mining industry parallels the social organization of the …show more content…

According to Dako Gyeke and Owusu (2013), the difference in the roles of women and men begin in the household, where there is a strong emphasis on differential gender roles in the socialization processes of boys and girls. In Ghana, young boys are socialized to take up culturally defined masculine roles such as working on household farms and tending the household animals while women are socialized into the more feminine household roles such as preparation of meals and providing laundry services. Dako Gyeke and Owusu (2013) argue that knowledge about gender differences between men and women is entrenched in Ghanaian society to such an extent that it is likely the children will hold these views throughout their lives and show up in the type of work they do. Differences in agricultural roles for men and women perpetuate gender roles in households. Ghana is mostly rural, with over 70 percent of the rural population working in agriculture (Ghana Demographic and Health Survey 2014). Gender division of labor shows up in the differences in the crops men and women plant; access to land, labor, and technology; and marketing practices. According to Dako Gyeke and Owusu (2013), Ghanaian society uses stereotypical processes such as proverbs to explain the roles of men and women and reinforce gender differences in agricultural practices. The restrictions on women’s roles adversely affect agricultural productivity and ultimately rural

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