1. The Cultural Geography of Gender

2. Cultural Influences on Gender Roles Cultural norms can control the advancement or subjugation of women and their status in certain regions of the world. Culture and society has an enormous impact on gender roles in America. Americans receive thousands of cultural messages each week concerning gender roles, including advertisements, movies, TV, music, magazines and family influence. People evaluate these messages to understand expectations for their gender and how they should operate within society. While many people and organizations challenge these traditional gender roles, the influence of mainstream culture remains evident.

3. The Traditional Role of the Woman

4. Gender and Development The development of a culture/society is closely tied to how they view women. In developed countries, the role of the woman in society has changed. We use several measurements concerning gender in determining how developed a culture/society/country actually is. It all goes back to how they treat women.

5. Development by gender: How is it measured? 1.Gender-Related Development Index 2. Gender Empowerment Measure 3. Child Marriage (CM) Who creates these indexes? UNHD

6. Gender-Related Development Index 1.Economic: average income 2. Social Indicators: -literacy levels -education (school attendance) 3. Demographic: Life expectancy

7. Gender-Related Development Index

8. - 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?

9. Nepal: GDI 140 59.4 59.9 26.4 61.6 55 67 891 1,776 -4 What can you tell about women in Nepal? -Women and men have the same life expectancy. Why? -Only a small % of women can read compared to their enrollment in school. Why? -Women make less money than men. Why? -What does the last figure mean?

10. China: GDI 94 73.2 68.8 86.5 95.1 64 69 3,571 5,435 5 What can you tell about the women in China? -Life expectancy is more consistent 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 income compared to women, consistent with the global pattern

11. Gender Empowerment Measure How 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

12. Gender Empowerment Measure

14. Women in Subsaharan Africa Populate much of the rural areas, as men migrate to cities for work Produce 70% of the region’s food Small percentage of women have legal title to their land

15. Murders of brides (often by burning) when a dispute arises over a dowry Difficult to “legislate away” the power relationships that lead to dowry deaths Female infanticide also tied to the disempowerment of women Dowry Deaths in India

16. 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

17. 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.

18. 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?

19. Child Marriage

20. Prevalence of Child Marriage – Top 20 Countries

21. Child Marriage (CM): Constraints to Health & Development Worse reproductive health outcomes Wasted investment in development efforts

22. Maternal Mortality by Age

23. Infant Mortality Rates by Age of the Mother

24. Outcomes of Child Marriage Maternal mortality Maternal morbidities Low birth weight & prematurity Infant mortality Dowry Deaths- refers the deaths of young women who are murdered or driven to suicide by continuous harassment and torture by husbands and in-laws in an effort to extort an increased dowry. Dowry death is considered one of the many categories of violence against women, alongside rape, bride burning and acid throwing. It is widespread in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and some regions of Africa. Pakistan has the highest reported rates of dowry-related deaths per 100,000 women in the world. In India, alone, there were 8,233 dowry deaths in 2012. Reasons for Outcomes Still growing First birth Inadequate prenatal care Low socioeconomic status Poor Health Outcomes

25. Child Marriage and Rank on Human Development Index (HDI)

26. Reasons: Why Does Child Marriage Persist? Gender roles –Families see girls as financial and social burdens –Lack of socially acceptable alternatives for girls Family and community honor tied to early marriage –Reinforce ties between families and communities –Desire to protect girls Lack of political will Cultural norm

27. Conclusions -Just like the HDI, the GDI and GEM divide countries into high, medium, and low areas of development. --Gender inequality in income, education, and political power is a global problem. BEGIN GLOBAL STATUS OF WOMEN SCAVENGER HUNT…