Women

Women

Feminist criticisms of traditional development programs:
1. Development projects fail to acknowledge that women’s productive work inside & outside of the home
Example-
Bangladesh they care for family, and other things around the house, yet this labor is considered “non economic”
Hard labor yet not recognized
2. Projects fail to acknowledge women’s role in reproduction
Often prioritized cash crops grown by men & left out rural women who produce food for their families
Women more likely to look at interest of children
3. Projects fail to acknowledge women’s considerable workloads
4. Projects often assume gender role arrangement in which men are breadwinners & women are homemakers & that development benefiting men will eventually trickle down to women
Primarily are viewed as mothers not workers
5. Development projects often disadvantage women because they provide resources based on land ownership
Because laws and local practices typically disfavor women’s property ownership, they are often denied development resources
(credit, training, etc.)
Approaches to women, gender & development
Women in Development (WID):
1973- U.S congress enacted the Percy Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act
Goal- was to include women into development efforts, to foster women’s economic participation in the public sphere
Three types of projects
1. Income generating projects
Low paid, low skilled type of positions
Sewing, hand crafts
Didn’t help double burden, having to work in house and have a job
2. Labor- saving technologies
Equipment to help save time for women
Good projects but often didn’t consider women’s needs
Implemented w/out context specific information on how women do things.
3. Projects to increase access to credit & extension services
direct some of financial assistants toward women
Rechanneled financial resources
Gender & Development (GAD):
Focuses on gender relations & their importance to development
Not just on women as a...

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