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Psychology 417A Psychology and Developing
Societies Class Session 5 Topic Case Study
Feminism andMicrofinance
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Agenda

• 1. Administrative issues
• Three vs. six credits.
• Discussion question grades.
• Final grades and graduation.
• Assignment 1 Flexible due date of May 29?

2. Discussion questions (HIV/AIDS transmission
and prevention).
3. Film Africa Calling.
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4. Summary of readings Cherry, Kaelan, Pia.
5. Development approaches to women and gender.
6. Cultural relativity vs. gender equality
Small group activity.
7. Feminisms in North America and Sub-Saharan
Africa.
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Development Approaches to Women and Gender

• Development initiatives have been characterized
  by five approaches to women and gender

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1. Social assistance (welfare) approach

• 1950-1970.

• Overpopulation and population growth were seen as
  the primary obstacles to development.

• Development initiatives focused on population
  control and family planning, targeting female
  reproduction.

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2. Women in development (WID) approach

• 1960-1975.

• Women were seen as a distinct analytical
  category for development initiatives.

• Women-specific development initiatives focused on
  the integration of women into the workforce.

• With little change in the division of domestic
  work, critics argued that this approach imposed
  an additional burden on women.

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3. Women and development (WAD) approach

• 1975-1985.

• Women were seen as part of a family unit the
  family unit was seen as the target of
  development.

• Recognized domestic contributions of women, but
  failed to consider power relationships within the
  family.

• Discouraged a strict analytical focus on women
  independent of men both sexes were seen as
  dis-advantaged on the basis of capital and class.

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4. Gender and development (GAD) approach

• 1985-1995.

• The oppression of women was seen as a consequence
  of the social construction of production and
  reproduction (Rathgeber, 1990).

• Questioned the validity of the roles ascribed to
  the sexes and the social structures that support
  inequality.

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• Recognized women as agents of change welcomes
  the contributions of men who are allies.

• Limited application in development projects due
  to emphasis on structural change.

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5. Mainstreaming gender equality (MGE) approach

• 1995-present.

• Gender inequality is seen as the result of
  failure to integrate gender into all levels of
  program and policy formation.

• Calls for a shift in organizational,
  institutional, and political cultures

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United Nations Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC) Mainstreaming a gender perspective is
the process of assessing the implications for
women and men of any planned action, including
legislation, policies or programmes, in any area
and at all levels. It is a strategy for making
the concerns and experiences of women as well as
of men an integral part of the design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of
policies and programmes in all political,
economic and societal spheres, so that women and
men benefit equally, and inequality is not
perpetuated. The ultimate goal of mainstreaming
is to achieve gender equality.
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Cultural Relativity vs. Gender Equality Small
Group Activity

• Divide into two groups.

• Debate the following vignette.

Group 1 Advocate for cultural relativity.
Group 2 Advocate for gender equality.
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C, a recently diagnosed HIV-positive woman,
presented with bereavement following the recent
death of her husband. Compounding her loss, her
husbands family, who suspected he had died of
AIDS, blamed her for his death and accused her of
having bewitched him. They revoked recognition
of her marital status, to the extent that they
confiscated her bank cards, leaving her
compromised. C felt that her husbands family
had no right to her money, which she had earned,
but felt powerless to challenge them. She
simultaneously found it difficult to question
their actions, explaining that it is acceptable
in her culture for the paternal extended family
to lay claim to such possessions. She
experienced considerable conflict in attempting
to negotiate her sense of herself as an
autonomous woman with certain rights and her
recognition of herself as inserted into an
extended African family system in which it was
not her place to question patriarchal authority.
This was complicated by her own feelings of guilt
regarding the death of her husband, although she
was fairly sure that he had infected her rather
than vice versa. In the context of these
feelings, his familys assumptions that C had had
a toxic influence on her husband found disturbing
resonance. She appeared to be at something of an
impasse, simultaneously recognizing that her
positioning by others was unfair and unwarranted
and yet also respectful of cultural beliefs and
practices, the latter recognized as particularly
important in relation to death and mourning
rituals. Indeed, C was sympathetic to her
in-laws turn to this cultural repertoire in
their attempt to explain their sons death.
Thus, C could be understood as having had some
cultural sympathy for their ideas (adapted from
Eagle and Long, 2011).
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Eagle and Long, 2011, p. 349 We believe that
it is generally useful to deal with the issue of
culture directly, to help women to see how
culture discourse operates and to see how they
may realign themselves within it. In some
respects this seems very close to the feminist
therapy orientation toward enabling women to
understand the structural basis of their mental
health difficulties in gender oppressive sets of
relations, rather than perceiving these to be
purely individually or internally located.
Without labelling particular kinds of cultural
explanations as necessarily problematic, what one
aims to do is to open up conventional wisdoms of
this kind to mutual exploration, in so doing
making it apparent that cultural understandings
are open to change and to different
interpretations.
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Feminisms in North America and Sub-Saharan Africa

• Are you a feminist?

• What does it mean to be a feminist?

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• Types of feminisms

• Cultural/essentialist feminism Emphasizes
  biological differences between the sexes. Argues
  for greater acceptance and appreciation of
  feminine characteristics (i.e., separate but
  equal).

• Liberal/egalitarian feminism Emphasizes equal
  rights between the sexes in all domains
  (employment, domestic life, sexuality, law)
  biological differences do not justify inequality.

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• Postmodern feminism Advocates for the
  elimination of the female/male dichotomy as an
  organizing force in society and acceptance of
  diverse realities.

• Radical feminism Advocates for drastic social
  reformation. Focuses on gender as a social
  construct. Denounces a biological basis for
  gender differences.

• Separatist feminism Advocates for separation
  from menphysically, emotionally, and
  psychologically. Argues for women-only spaces,
  including separatist living communities.

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Aina, 1998, p. 69 Western feminism is
currently facing the battle of acceptance both in
Africa and in the diaspora. Hudson-Weems (1991)
argues that the Western feminist agenda is
designed to meet the particular needs of white
women. Hudson-Weems sees as racist arrogance
and domination Western feminisms strategy of
placing womens history under the white womens
history, the latter position being seen as
definitive. She therefore opted for the term
Africana Womanism, which is grounded in African
culture and necessarily focuses on the unique
experiences, needs, and desires of Africana
women . This background documents the localized
nature of Western feminism and its inability to
solve womens oppression in the Third World
nations .
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Holdstock, 2000, p. 33 As far as the feminist
movement is concerned, Howitt and Owusu-Bempah
(1994) state that the movement neglects the needs
and the cause of black women. In fact, the
movement has overridden the perspective of black
women.
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Aina, 1998, p. 76 Western feminism has taken a
direction which focuses increasingly on female
sexuality and female separateness. It is thus
believed that Western feminism appears to have
declared a war against the family, thus creating
for African feminists the extra burden of
including family values on their feminist agenda,
in an effort to demonstrate that feminist
development could never pose a threat or
constitute a contradiction to a cohesive family
life . Human life in Africa is viewed from a
holistic rather than a dichotomous and exclusive
perspective . Each gender constitutes the
critical half that makes the human whole.
Neither sex is totally complete in itself to
constitute a unit by itself. Each has and needs
a complement, despite the possession of unique
features of its own . the success of feminism
in Africa will depend not only on raising the
consciousness of women but on how much
cooperation women receive from the men in
creating a humane world.
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• A recent review of psychological research in
  South Africa (Kiguwa Langa, 2011) revealed
  three primary areas of feminist research

• Gender and HIV/AIDS.

• Gender-based violence.

• Masculinity.

• Other areas of psychological inquiry that could
  advance feminist causes? Examples

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Psychological impact of poverty globalization
inheritance rights early marriage polygyny
extended kin networks widow practices. Sexuality
homosexuality gender development gender
identity homophobia. Sex role, class, caste,
religious stereotyping prejudice
discrimination stereotype inoculation. Interse
ctionality between sex, gender, class, caste,
religion. Sex-linked mental health health
seeking behaviour health problems linked to
negotiation of employment/parenthood. Female
agency and empowerment.
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Agenda

• 1. Administrative issues
• Three vs. six credits.
• Discussion question grades.
• Final grades and graduation.
• Assignment 1 Flexible due date of May 29?

2. Discussion questions (HIV/AIDS transmission
and prevention).
3. Film Africa Calling.
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4. Summary of readings Cherry, Kaelan, Pia.
5. Development approaches to women and gender.
6. Cultural relativity vs. gender equality
Small group activity.
7. Feminisms in North America and Sub-Saharan
Africa.
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Next Class
1. Student leaders Ana, Eleanor, Emma, Shelbi.
2. Non-leader students

• Submit (via e-mail) two discussion questions to
  me by 900AM on May 16.