Gender studies

Gender studies

Reading 1:  Rwanda - world’s first women-led country

Rwanda will soon become the first country in the world where female politicians outnumber male politicians. The small central African country has made huge progress since its tragic genocide in the 1990s. It can now proudly call itself a beacon of sexual equality. The ruling party coalition won 78% of seats in the election. Women took at least 44 out of a total of the 80 seats. Women may still win another three undecided seats. The head of the country’s election commission stated: “It's clear women representatives will be more than 50 per cent." Since the genocide, the government has encouraged women into politics. Many in Rwanda say the election results show that people are fed up with male-dominated politics. They say women will bring freshness and change to the nation.  
 

Women’s groups were quick to praise the government of President Paul Kagame for promoting such a strong gender equality programme. A female voter told the BBC’s Focus on Africa show that the new political landscape would help strengthen her country. She explained: "Men, especially in our culture, used to think that women are there to be in the house, cook food, look after the children... but the real problems of a family are known by a woman and when they do it, they help a country to get much better." A local newspaper editor told the Voice of America website of his new pride in his country: “We have really been the first…where the women have broken the glass ceiling…now it's like we are enlightened. We are no longer in this backward sort of thinking,” he said.

 Questions

http://iteslj.org/questions/gender.html

  

Gender studies

Reading 2 - Habermas and communicative equality

Think about this -  How does the balance of power in a relationship affect the meaning of the words spoken?

 When people are unequal in power, the stronger dominate the weak. In other words, power distorts communication. According to the philosopher Habermas,  equality in communication is a basic right.  But is it achievable? The linguist Tannon says: If you care what someone thinks, this limits your freedom.  Do you understand this?  If society cares more about the rights of men, doesn’t this intimidate women?

Look at the following explanation for girl’s schools. All-girl schools have been gaining popularity in recent years because of the belief that girls learn better when they aren’t competing with or intimidated by boys, who statistically get more attention in the classroom. Do you think single-sex schools are a good idea?

For Habermas, language is at the core of all social relationships because it is through language that we communicate. The role of language in our lives, for Habermas, is central to the development of our moral sense and has emancipatory potential.  Emancipation means to be set free from social or political restrictions.  What restrictions are we talking about? Well, one example of a restriction is gender inequality in society.  This inequality is a social fact that is a dominant ideology in Japan.  Ideologies determine social practices and when we look at social practices, we find women do not enjoy the same status as men. This communicative inequality (for women) makes it difficult for women to interact with men on an equal basis.  For men, it makes it difficult to communicate without self-interest. 

Communication demands of us, if it is to succeed, a certain tolerance toward difference. Inequality however entails intolerance.

Interview – You are a student doing research on gender equality

1.    Do you think some people have been hired just because of gender?

2.     Do you think that there are fewer opportunities at school or in the workplace because of gender?

3.    Are there times when it’s clearly an advantage to be a man or woman? Give examples.

4.    Do you remember situations when gender was an issue?

5.     Were you ever discouraged from doing something because of your gender?

6.    What would you say are the most common gender stereotypes?

Reading 3 - The Rights of Mothers and Fathers

Three years ago, Gina entered Harvard University in Boston, with a full scholarship. She planned to graduate from Harvard, go to law school, and become a lawyer Unfortunately, in her second year she had to return to her hometown in California when she found out she had gotten pregnant during the previous summer. The father of her baby is her ex-boyfriend, Tommy, who lives in California.

Now her baby is ten months old, and Gina wants to return with her baby to Harvard to continue her studies. But Tommy, the father, doesn't want Gina to take the baby. He says the baby should stay with him in California because he could take care of the baby better than Gina could. Tommy has a job as a waiter and makes about $800 month. He says his parents (the baby's grandparents) could take care of the baby while he's working. At the same time, he says Gina would be too busy with her studies at Harvard to be a good mother. Because she has no relatives in Boston, the baby would have to spend a lot of time in daycare while Gina is in classes or studying.

Gina disagrees with Tommy. She says that, as the baby's mother, she could take better care of the baby than anyone else and that a baby needs its mother. She is confident that she could study and take care of the baby. Also, she says that the baby will have a better future if Gina can graduate from a famous university like Harvard and become a lawyer.

Questions

Why does the father think the baby should stay with him?

Why does the mother think the baby should stay with her?