Culture and Gender Equality: Analysis of Case Studies · Culture and Gender Equality: Analysis of...
Transcript of Culture and Gender Equality: Analysis of Case Studies · Culture and Gender Equality: Analysis of...
Culture and Gender Equality: Analysis of Case Studies
Birutė Sabatauskaitė
„Advancing Gender Training to Support Effective Gender Mainstreaming”
13th November, 2012
Culture and cultural relativism
Culture – ordinary part of the process through which any social organisation develops and reproduces itself (Raymond Williams).
Cultural relativism – the view that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the individual within his own social context.
Case study 1
Can polygamous relationship be justified based on cultural relativism?
Is it a violation of gender equality if one of the leaders marries a second wife;
Experience of Senegalese women;
Can culture justify oppression of women?
Case Study 2
Early marriage as a reason for early-school-drop-out:
Should it be tackled by educational system?
Assumption that it is a cultural practice / cannot be questioned;
Majority in power to decide.
Case Study 3
Division of group work based on binary approach to gender:
Workshop on sexism and sexual harrassement;
Splitting participants into 2 groups – men and women – justified or not?
Case Study 4
Differential treatment of people based on their assumed religion:
An Egyptian woman wearing hijab as an
educational practice;
Adapting the training programme making assumptions about religion;
Forcing cultural relativism on ethnocultural minorities?
Conclusions 1
Cultural relativism and power to decide;
Representation of white middle class able women of majority ethnic background;
Conclusions 2
Culture is not static;
Sensitivity towards, but not fear to question;
Importance of preparations of trainings.