Geography of Gender

Demography and Health

• Longevity Gap: gap between life expectancy

• India and Pakistan: women live longer

• Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan: men live longer (WHY?)

• Sub-Saharan Africa: women die younger due to AIDS

• Global Norm: women outlive men

• Europe:7 years,• Russia: 12• South Am.:7• Sub-Saharan Africa: 2• East and Southeast

Asia: 4• South Asia: 1

http://www.worldmapper.org/posters/worldmapper_map265_ver5.pdf

Helpful statistics and graphics to use in your classroom

http://gapminder.org

Maternal Mortality: Who uses birth control?

• Maternal Mortality rate: poorer realms is 80 to 600 times greater, pregnant health risks, South Asia 650 per 100,000 maternal deaths, African women same

• European women: 3 per 100,000

• Why? Inadequate medical services

• Excessive number of pregnancies

• Malnutrition• 250,000 women die of illegal

abortions in Africa• WHO: World Health

Organization says women suffer from anemia, can’t get 3 times iron during pregnancy… GEOPHAGY

Maternal mortality

Female Infanticide India: 133 single men per 100 women

• Prenatal Gender Detection: ultrasound and amniocentesis, July 1994, Federal Law prohibiting pre-natal tests solely to determine sex of the fetus..male relatives push

• -want family lineage preserved

• -Hindu society oldest son lights the funeral pyre of the father

• -tradition of dowry: families receive payments from the bride’s parents

• Black market emerged for prenatal testing

• Highest in rural, poor sectors

• Dowry Deaths: father doesn’t pay the bride price to son-in-law’s parents and they kill the bride.

• 1989: 2,436

China one child policy

• 10 million men remain single in 30s, no women

• -gender detection tests, then abortions

• -food deprivation

• -denial of medical care

• -abandonment and murder

• -sold for prostitution

• Strict policy in urban areas so infanticide highest there.. More relaxed in rural areas to help with agriculture

Female Genitalia Mutilation(FGM)

• 2 million girls under the age of 11 every year• -infection• -infertility• -increased difficulties in childbirth• Africa, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Central and South

America• Somalia: 70-90% subjected to FGM• Ancient ritual designed to:• -ensure the virginity and suitability of women for

marriage• -to control women’s attitude toward sex

Family Courts Act:for domestic disputes

• -old men judges believe in male dominated society

• -believe in Hindu belief in family and place abused women back into the home

Islamic Law

• -resurgence of fundamentalism• -severe Sharia Laws• -can’t go without veils or move without men

• Afghanistan under the Taliban:• -no girls in schools• -traditional clothing• -no music, no celebrations• -women stoned for adultery• -women couldn’t hold jobs

Education and Opportunity• 65-75% of Indian women

are illiterate• West Africa, women

control the markets, rest of Africa, women do not go to school….FEES

• Girls work with mothers 12 hours a day

• -collecting firewood• -collecting water• -weeding fields• (subsistence farming)WOMEN Produce 40% of

the world’s foodWomen work 80% on

plantations and farms in SubSaharan Africa and 50% in Asia

Work

– Maquiladoras: mostly women workers

• -more dependable than men

• -nimble fingers

• Most poor women in the world work in the “informal Market” or “informal sector”

• -making soap

• -cooking food

• -beer brewing

• -tailoring

©Valerie Morgan Mervine

Women Everywhere:

Job Discrimination

Occupational Segregation

Wage Inequalities

Gender: Biology and Social Situation

• Migration: Forced migration, women suffer with struggle for survival in refugee camps

• Voluntary migration: men form social networks, dominate decisions

• Education and Economic Development Reduce inequalities between the sexes.

• Women in urban situations have made progress: higher wages, better jobs

• Exception: Saudi Arabia: oil-rich, high-income society… women were just recently allowed to drive

Development by gender: How is it measured?

1. Gender-Related Development Index

2. Gender Empowerment Measure

Who creates these indexes?

UNHD

Gender-Related Development Index

4 factors similar to the HDI

1. Economic: average income

2. Social Indicators:-literacy levels

-education (school attendance)

3. Demographic:Life expectancy

Gender-Related Development Index (GDI)

Economic Indicator: Income

Gender-Related Development Index

• -The rank of the Netherlands remained the same. (0)

• -The rank of Belgium is #7 but the HDI rank is #6. (-1)• -The rank of Iceland is #6 but the HDI rank is #7. (1)• -The rank of Japan is #12 but the HDI rank is 9. (-3)• Why would a country drop in rank from the HDI?

Nepal: GDI

140 59.4 59.9 26.4 61.6 55 67 891 1,776 -4What do can you tell about Women in Nepal?

-Women and men have the same life expectancy. Why?-Only a small % of women canread compared to their enrollment in school. Why?-Women make less moneythan men. Why?-What does the last figure mean?

China: GDI

94 73.2 68.8 86.5 95.1 64 69 3,571 5,435 5What can you tell aboutthe women in China?

-Life expectancy is moreconsistent with the global trend-Almost equal numbers of each sex attend school, although low-Literacy rate is high but lower for females compared to males-Males have a higher incomecompared to women, consistentwith the global pattern

Gender Empowerment MeasureHow is it measured?

• The GEM demonstrates the ability of women to participate and determine the power structure of a country

2 Economic indicators:

-% of women in professional and technical jobs

-income level

2 Political indicators:

-% of women in admin or managerial jobs

-% of women holding elected positions

GEM: Economic IndicatorsFemale professional and technical workers

Female to male income

Gender Empowerment Measure

Political IndicatorsSeats in Parliaments/National Legislatures

Administrators and Managers

Nepal: GEM

• No data .50

1951 1951 1952A 14.8 6 5.9

Due to lack of data on the GEM,

Data was found on the Political

Participation Index

China: GEM

20.2 .66

1949 1949 1954E 5.1 21 20.2

Data for China can be combined from the GEM and the Political Participation index to discuss the political power of women compared to men in China.

GDI and GEM of an MDC:Sweden

2 0.946 82.5 77.5 100 100 124 104 23,781 28,700 -

2 0.854 45.3 31 50 0.83

When comparing Nepal and China to Sweden, what differences can you detect?

http://www.grameen-info.org/

Microcredit

Micro-lending

What is the goal of providing a

micro-loan?

SUSTAINABILITY!!Providing for the current

situation and for future generations.

Grameen Bank: 16 Decisions

http://www.izzit.org/

To receive a free video called “Pennies a Day” about micro-lending

NGO: Non-Governmental Organization

http://www.hri.ca/http://www.rawa.org/index.php

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/uganda601/

Frontline Videos about Womenhttp://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/07/introduction_to.html

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2006/12/pakistan_this_i.html

More Frontline Videoshttp://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/kyrgyzstan

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/06/nepal_a_girls_l.html

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/flash_point/afghanistan/

Conclusions

• -Just like the HDI, the GDI and GEM divide countries into high, medium, and low areas of development.

• -Cultural norms can control the advancement or subjugation of women and their status in certain regions of the world.

• -Gender inequality in income, education, and political power is a global problem.

Sources• Rubenstein, James M. (2008). An introduction to human geography The cultural

landscape. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.• de Blij, H.J., Murphy, ALexander B. & Fouberg, Erin H., Human geography, People,

place, and culture. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc..• Jordan-Bychkov, Terry G. & Domosh, Mona, (2003). The human mosaic, A thematic

introduction to cultural geography. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman and Company.• Knox, Paul L. & Marston, Sallie A., (2007). Human geography, Places and regions in

global context. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall• Retrieved October 11, 2007, Web site:

http://womenwarpeace.org/Portals/0/Documents/hdr04_gender_indicators.pdf• Retrieved October 11, 2007, Web site:

http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2003/indicator/indic_207_1_1.html

• Benewick, Robert, & Donald, Stephanie H. (2005). The State of• China Atlas. Berkeley: University of California Press.