Ebook231 pages5 hours
On Norms and Agency
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
()
About this ebook
Social norms, gender roles, beliefs about one’s own capacity, and assets, as well as communities and countries, determine the opportunities available to women and men—and their ability to take advantage of them. World Development Report 2012 shows significant progress in many areas, but gender disparities still persist.
Our study covered 20 countries in all world regions, where over 4,000 women and men, in remote and traditional villages and dense urban neighborhoods, in more than 500 focus groups, discussed the effects of gender differences and inequalities on their lives. Despite diverse social and cultural settings, traits and expectations of the ideal “good” woman and “good” man were remarkably similar across all sample urban and rural communities. Participants acknowledged that women are actively seeking equal power and freedom, but must constantly negotiate and resist traditional expectations about what they are to do and who they are to be. When women achieve the freedom to work for pay or get more education, they must still accommodate their gains to these expectations, especially on household responsibilities.
Girls’ desire for education, which nurtures their aspirations for greater agency, exceeded that of boys in rural and urban communities. Both young women and men wished for more education and better jobs than are common in their communities and strikingly wanted to marry later, bear children later, and have more autonomy in choosing their partners than traditional community norms dictated.
The main pathways for women to gain agency are education, employment, and decreased risk of domestic violence. A safer space encourages women to negotiate for more participation and equality in household discussions and decisions. Women’s ability to contribute to family finances and control (even partially) major or minor assets helps them gain more voice at home and in public spheres. Women’s aspirations and empowerment to break gender barriers occur regardless of dynamic or poor economies, while men’s perceived gain in agency—and their identity as breadwinner—largely depends on economic conditions.
When only a few women manage to break with established norms—without a critical mass—traditional norms are not contested and may be reinforced. The process of gender norm change thus appears to be uneven and challenging, lagging behind topical conditions. The easy co-existence of new and old norms means that households in the same community can vary markedly in how much agency women can exercise, and women feel less empowered when opinions and values of families and communities stay with traditional norms.
Our study covered 20 countries in all world regions, where over 4,000 women and men, in remote and traditional villages and dense urban neighborhoods, in more than 500 focus groups, discussed the effects of gender differences and inequalities on their lives. Despite diverse social and cultural settings, traits and expectations of the ideal “good” woman and “good” man were remarkably similar across all sample urban and rural communities. Participants acknowledged that women are actively seeking equal power and freedom, but must constantly negotiate and resist traditional expectations about what they are to do and who they are to be. When women achieve the freedom to work for pay or get more education, they must still accommodate their gains to these expectations, especially on household responsibilities.
Girls’ desire for education, which nurtures their aspirations for greater agency, exceeded that of boys in rural and urban communities. Both young women and men wished for more education and better jobs than are common in their communities and strikingly wanted to marry later, bear children later, and have more autonomy in choosing their partners than traditional community norms dictated.
The main pathways for women to gain agency are education, employment, and decreased risk of domestic violence. A safer space encourages women to negotiate for more participation and equality in household discussions and decisions. Women’s ability to contribute to family finances and control (even partially) major or minor assets helps them gain more voice at home and in public spheres. Women’s aspirations and empowerment to break gender barriers occur regardless of dynamic or poor economies, while men’s perceived gain in agency—and their identity as breadwinner—largely depends on economic conditions.
When only a few women manage to break with established norms—without a critical mass—traditional norms are not contested and may be reinforced. The process of gender norm change thus appears to be uneven and challenging, lagging behind topical conditions. The easy co-existence of new and old norms means that households in the same community can vary markedly in how much agency women can exercise, and women feel less empowered when opinions and values of families and communities stay with traditional norms.
Related to On Norms and Agency
Related ebooks
Disability Services and Disability Studies in Higher Education: History, Contexts, and Social Impacts: History, Contexts, and Social Impacts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTransgender Student Issues in Higher Education Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPromoting Social Justice through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSympathy and Science: Women Physicians in American Medicine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Retellings: Opportunities for Feminist Research in Rhetoric and Composition Studies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsActivist Literacies: Transnational Feminisms and Social Media Rhetorics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGender and Sexuality in Stoic Philosophy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRace Relations: A Critique Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Right to Write: The Literary Politics of Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It’S Not Always Racist … but Sometimes It Is: Reshaping How We Think About Racism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStories of Becoming: Demystifying the Professoriate for Graduate Students in Composition and Rhetoric Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMapping Racial Literacies: College Students Write about Race and Segregation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsListening, Learning and Work Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDiversity A Complete Guide - 2020 Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBecoming: Transformative Storytelling for Education's Future Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMinds of Our Own: Inventing Feminist Scholarship and Women’s Studies in Canada and Québec, 1966–76 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWOMEN AND ADVERSITY: Saluting 23 Faithful Suffragists: Women And Adversity, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAuthentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Nonbinary People and Their Families Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWild Tourist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRadical Feminism: Feminist Activism in Movement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NoNonsense Feminism: Alive and Kicking Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWomen with Disabilities: Essays in Psychology, Culture, and Politics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5THE JUSTICE DIARY: AN INQUIRY INTO JUSTICE IN AMERICA Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Days of Ofelia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlone in a Silent World: The Story of the Stephensons and the Sheffield Deaf Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReligious Intolerance in America, Second Edition: A Documentary History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChoosing to Participate Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDangerous Intercourse: Gender and Interracial Relations in the American Colonial Philippines, 1898–1946 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntersectional Inequality: Race, Class, Test Scores, and Poverty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFabulous Female Firsts: Because of Them, We Can Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for On Norms and Agency
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
1 rating0 reviews