Priya Chattier SSGM Pacific Research Fellow Email: priya.chattier@anu.edu.au Gender Norms in...
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- Slide 1
- Priya Chattier SSGM Pacific Research Fellow Email:
priya.chattier@anu.edu.au Gender Norms in Transition: Conversations
on Ideal Images with Women & Men in Fiji Islands 1 18-19 June
2014 State of the Pacific Conference
- Slide 2
- Are Gender Norms Changing? 2 We let our daughters go to school
and let them get good jobs. The moment they will be independent
from men in thinking and earning, they will have very good lives. -
Rural Indian Adult Female There is no such thing as equality
between men and women in this community- A man is always above the
woman even though women just started entering work. Man is still in
control. - Urban iTaukei Adult Male
- Slide 3
- Main argument of my paper 3 Whether or not gender norms and
gender roles are changing in Fiji? And if they are changing what
are the shifts in gender relations? And whether these
reconfigurations represent crisis of masculinity or womens pathway
to empowerment? Source: personal album
- Slide 4
- Background to the World Bank Study 4 Between June 2010 and
February 2011, World Bank (WB) contracted 20 countries, including
Fiji to hear first-hand about womens and mens perspectives on
gender and economic choices. The purpose of this qualitative work
was to explore: -women's and men's subjective views of and
experiences with making key economic decisions; and - Whether
gender norms that surround these choices may be shifting or as the
economy changes. 2012 World Development Report: Gender Equality
& Development
- Slide 5
- A Bit about the Communities A - inner suburbs of main city
centre. B - a rural Fijian settlement located close to hotel
industry. C- located near Fijis old capital & is the home of
Fiji's largest fish cannery. D- peri urban Indian community, 2 nd
largest city & is export processing zone of Fiji. E- remote
rural Indian community with limited access to facilities &
services. F- remote rural Indian community located where expiry of
land leases brought a downturn in peoples economic prosperity. 5
Community NameLocationEthnicityEconomy 1. Community
AUrbanFijianStrong 2. Community BRuralFijianStrong 3. Community
CUrbanFijianStrong 4. Community DUrbanIndianStrong 5. Community
ERuralIndianWeak 6. Community FRuralIndianWeak Table 1: Sample
Communities
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- Location of the Research Communities 6
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- Research Methods & Tools: Key informant interview in the
form of a community questionnaire Three structured focus group
discussions with male and female adolescents, young adults and
mature adults. In-depth interview (as mini case-studies) Ladder of
Power/Freedom most effective visual tool (but quite lengthy to get
through all the probes). 7 Source: personal album Source: IWDA
Gender in Pacific Wash project
- Slide 8
- Selection of Participants 8 Each focus group was organised by
sex and age, met separately. Three focus groups were structured by
age with 8 males & females in each age group: 1. Adolescents:
12-17 years 2. Young adult: 18-24 years 3. Adults: 25-60 years
Range of educational & livelihood experiences were considered
in participant selection. Purposive sampling technique used by
community focal points to identify participants. 51 participants
selected from each community with a total sample of 306
participants. Source: personal album
- Slide 9
- Context of Gender Relations in Fiji: iTaukei 1. Patriarchal
culture based on communal values, respect for chiefs, &
patrilineal ownership of land through male kinship 2. Cultural
norms do not place restrictions on female mobility & employment
Indians 1. Culturally diverse with different religious groups. 2.
Patriarchal ideology - male authority in decision making &
father-to-son inheritance. 3. Cultural norms on mobility quite
strong in rural areas 9 Source: personal album Source: World Bank
Norms & Agency (2013) cover
- Slide 10
- Gender Equality Outcomes: 10 Significant progress with
enrolment ratios increasing for girls at school across ethnicities.
Female LFPR increased from 29.1 in 1990 to 39.2 in 2007, while for
males this rate actually declined from 83.6 in 1990 to 78.8 in 2007
CEDAW (1995), PPA (1995), BPA (1995), MDGs (2000) Domestic Laws,
i.e., No Drop Policy, Family Law Act enacted. Enabling Environment
for Gender Equality in Fiji
- Slide 11
- 1. The norms we live by: Good Wife: She does all the cleaning.
She prepares breakfast. She works on the plantation in the morning.
She prepares lunch. She goes to work on the plantation in the
afternoon. She attends village/club meetings in the late afternoon.
She comes back to make sure dinner is ready. She goes to bed last.
- iTaukei rural adult male group Good Husband: My parents expect me
to be a man who can earn money to feed his family. When my wife
asks me for money, I have money for her. They dont want my wife to
say that I am inferior to her and the other men in my
neighbourhood. - Indian urban young adult 11
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- Characteristics of A Good Wife & Good Husband Across
Communities 12
- Slide 13
- Mens traditional role as a breadwinner 13 A good husband is a
good provider of things such as food, clothes (Urban Indian Male
adult). A good husband is one who provides for everything in the
house. He pays all the bills (Urban Fijian Male Adult). A good
husband is one who earns a decent income and keeps his family in
good comfort.... He has to be a good provider and has to put in
extra hours, if necessary for this purpose (Rural Indian Male
Adult). He should go to his work in the early morning and get money
for his children (Rural Fijian community).
- Slide 14
- Shifting Gender Roles & Relations 14 New expectations &
roles of men Equality in relationships Womens changing economic
roles Source: IWDA Gender in Pacific Wash project
- Slide 15
- Women as New Breadwinners Across the communities, it was noted
that women were now working and had more power: Times have changed
and women need not rely on their husbands but rather have to
complement because men do not have well-defined means of
livelihood. -Indian Adult Female in Urban Community Women have to
take over some of the functions of their husbands like providing
for the needs of children & making decisions because men are
not gainfully employed. - iTaukei Adult Female in Urban Community
15 Source: IWDA Gender in Pacific Wash project
- Slide 16
- Ambivalence to shifting gender roles Many men feel their male
authority is being challenged & undermined: Before it was clear
that the woman is to keep the house and take care of the family,
while the man was the breadwinner. Now the woman buys and sells
crops and the man is sitting at home and takes care of the
children. - Elderly man from a rural community We do understand
that there are laws relating to rights of women but most of us do
not take these seriously. As men, we are heads of the family. In
the past, women and men did not know these laws, and women
respected husbands. Now, because of these laws, women try to
control their husbands, which is not good. - Adult Males in an
urban iTaukei community 16
- Slide 17
- Sticky gets Stickier implications for feminist theory and
practice 17 Our analysis clearly shows how normative frameworks
around gender are changing- albeit slowly. However, this change is
being contested: whereby backlashes are common. Movement in one
area does not always mean movement in other areas or for
everyone.
- Slide 18
- Are we there yet? 18