A few days ago the Belgian Institute For the Equality of Woman and Man (IGVM) published its second report on gender statistics. The report is an instrument that lists numerous indicators of inequality between genders. The first gender statistics report was published in 2006. Since that time a lot of progress has been made in my little country. Especially at the indicators of education and academic careers the emancipation is really visible. A lot of problems still remain though. The hardest conclusion to digest - also the one the press covered most intensely - is that for every houseman there still are 32 housewives. Classic gender roles are indeed more firmly embedded in our open societies than you might imagine. The group of men who are participating in the household is growing, albeit at a slow rate. In the end the combination of a working job with tasks around the household still falls mainly on women. Housemen are a marginal group both within the population of men and the population of house cats. This is a trend that persists even in younger generations.
In Belgium we have a great system of time credit formulas: social security arrangements that allow working people to do less hours or even take a few months off to raise the children, care for an ill family member, etc. It is a sad reflection though that mainly women make use of these formulas. I understand that an instinct for caring might be more characteristic of woman, but not to such statistic extremes. There is no denying that a cultural pattern is at work here. And this is a real pity since the IGVM explicitly states in its report that "a more equal distribution of (caring) tasks within the household is a necessary condition for greater equality in other domains" (IGVM, 2012a).
To conclude I wish to point out that the inequality evident from the numbers has two main reasons. One is the ongoing enforcement of gender stereotypes onto children. Examples are all too evident: girls between 12 and 18 engage significantly more in household activities than boys of the same age, sports are still considered a boy's thing while we buy girls a doll for their birthday, etc. The IGVM report confirms the role of such practices which are to me no less than indoctrinating, limiting the free choice of children. I dare to say indoctrinating because how else would you call the natural representation of a constructed social order? The second problem links up to this in a direct fashion: most people see no problem. Most Belgian citizens do not recognize gender roles as a severe limitation to either freedom or emancipation. Gender roles may not be as rigid as they once where, the danger lies exactly in their subtlety. What remains slumbering under the surface is hard to contest, but it can spread its poison nonetheless.
Sources:
IGVM (2012a). Press release 'Females and males in Belgium: Equal in 2012?' (Dutch). Consulted on February 22, 2012 (http://igvm-iefh.belgium.be/nl/binaries/Persbericht%2021feb2012_tcm336-163732.pdf).
IGVM (2012b). Females and males in Belgium. Gender statistics and indicators (Dutch). Consulted on February 22, 2012 (http://igvm-iefh.belgium.be/nl/binaries/GenderStat_N_Hfdst1-8_tcm336-161101.pdf).
4 opmerkingen:
Gender roles sure are embedded in our society deeply. Seven years ago at school my younger sister (four at the time) was asked in class: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"... some girls wanted to become doctors, some nurses, some teachers, but most wanted to be "mommies" and my sister actually said she wanted: "marry a man who has a pretty car and be a housewife". She LITERALY said that, lol. I was laughing, my mother was shocked and my father just petted her on the head and told her she was a good girl. ;)
If total equality is what you desire, you'll have to wait a LOOOOONG time to get it. I'm pretty sure it won't be in our lifetimes. Personally I don't mind: as longs as girls have the ability to make their own choices, it's fine with me. Being a housewife is not any less a choice then being a working woman with a career - kids don't take care of themselves after all.
Of course there always has to be a freedom of choice. I don't mind woman choosing to be a housewife either. But I staunchly defend the view that society as a whole would benefit from acknowledging the boundaries it creates. Gender roles are a social order, not a natural one. If we could all agree upon that and point in toward a direction of progress, I'm happy. :D
Why is it progress when more men stay at home and more women leave the home? In the end turning the table or reversing the roles is not the same as getting rid of the table or the roles.
There are several options here, one would be "positive" discrimination or affirmative actions, which I am opposed to. Another would be changing the way in which we think, this would be a cultural change. Only the second option would be a lasting option, but it's a slow option.
What bounderies do you believe a woman has in today's western society? I don't see that many bounderies, actually. Feminism has played it's part and played it well, and women are equal in every way imagineable.
More men staying at home is no progress in itself, but getting rid of the traditional roles is. If the traditional roles loose strength this would be automatically reflected in a rise of housemen.
If you can't see the boundaries you just don't look hard enough. I happen to know quite a few girls who show behavior 'normally' associated with the male gender: a rough sport for a hobby, a wardrobe that doesn't exactly accentuate the female body, etc. At least two women told me in the last year that they feel unhappy by the pressure put on them to 'behave more normal'.
The woman I know carry the social pressure - which is VERY real - with great confidence. But not everyone is that strong, a lot of people change WHO THEY ARE simply to conform to the great expectations of constraining society. Others opt for a more extreme way out of a world that doesn't seem to accept them.
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