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edu/~dludden/MANY%20FACES%20OF%20GENDER
%20INEQUALITY.htm#:~:text=An%20essay%20by%20Amartya%20Sen,of%20inequality%20and
%20internal%20discrimination.

The disparate yet interlinked nature of gender inequalities has been dealt with in detail by Amartya Sen,
[8] who looked into inequalities in mortality, birth rate, basic services, opportunities, professional life,
ownership, and households. These are not only interlinked but they also contribute to women’s poverty.
The different kinds of inequalities are serious impediments to opening up individual capabilities and
choices. Their cumulative effect worsens economic deprivation, which in turn reinforces other kinds of
hardships. Positive developments in certain areas likewise have a multiplier effect. Literacy, for example,
has a positive impact on nutrition levels, medical care and employment opportunities.

Unformatted text preview: AMARTYA SEN – MANY FACES OF GENDER INEQUALITY I. SEVEN

TYPES OF INEQUALITY ! World is characterized by deeply unequal sharing of the burden of
adversities between women and men. 1) Mortality inequality a. Unusually high mortality rates of
women b. North Africa, Asia (China, South Asia) 2) Natality inequality a. Parents want newborns to
be boys rather than girls b. From a mere wish to sex-‐selective abortions (China & South Korea but
increasingly Singapore, Taiwan, India and South asia) c. ”high-‐tech sexism” 3) Basic facility
inequality a. Girls have worse opportunities in schooling than boys do b. Asia, Africa and Latin
America 4) Special opportunity inequality a. Opportunities of higher education may be far fewer for
young women than young men b. Sometimes based on incorrect perception of separate ”provinces”
for males and females, idea of separation of duties between genders (Victorian era: ”masculine =
war, commerce, politics, philosophy, sciences”) 5) Professional inequality a. Less opportunities at
work and promotion at work b. Countries like Japan quite egalitarian in matters of demography or
basic facilities (even higher education) yet lower levers of female employment c. English tv-‐show
”Yes, Minister”: minister asks how many women really are in senior positions, answer from general
secretary ”approximately none” 6) Ownership inequality a. Harder for women to flourish in
commercial, economic and even social activities b. Comparison between Kerala and rest of India.
Traditional property rights in rest of India favour men, Kerala communities have matrilinear
inheritance system 7) Household inequality a. Family arrangements can be unequal b. Sharing
burden of housework and child care c. ”division of labour” is actually ”accumulation of labour” to
women d. WHO Handbook of Human Nutrition in the 1970s classified household work as ”sedentary
activity”, requiring little deplyment of energy II. FOCUSING ON SOUTH ASIA ! ! ! ! Varied forms of
inequality, no single remedy Inequality not just gender-‐based Problems of gender equality need to
be confronted beyond simply women’s rights, also various implications to girls, boys and men Focus
on South-‐East Asia does not imply that USA/Western Europe are free of gender bias o India,
Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have had female heads of governments, which eg. the USA
has not o Sen: larger proportion of tenured women at Delhi University in the 1960s than currently at
Trinity College or Cambridge III. EXCEPTIONS AND TRENDS ! Most of South Asia have
significantly higher female mortality rates than men in respective age groups ! Mortality disadvantage
caused by widespread neglegt of female health, nutrition and other interests. True for many places
in the world. ! Ester Boserup, female economist, suggested economic independence enhaces status
and standing of women. Linked to social issues, such as female literacy ! EXAMPLE: Indian State of
Kerala. Higher female life expectancy, higher female-‐male ratio. Large example, 30 million people.
o Female literacy high, better access to well paid and respected jobs o Fertility rate in decline o
However, Kerala is exceptional as it has a tradition of female property ownership, openness to
foreign interaction and left-‐wing policies. IV. ISSUES THAT NEED INVESTIGATION 1.
Undernourishment of girls over boys a. Society’s unequal treatment b. Large-‐scale and local studies
prove this trend 2. High incidence of maternal undernourishment 3. Prevalence of low birthweight a.
Up to 21% of children are born clinically underweight b. 40-‐60% of children undernourished in South
Asia, compared to 20-‐ 40% in Sub-‐Saharan Africa 4. High incidence of cardiovascular diseases a.
Neglect of the care of girls and women, underlying gender bias b. Low birth rate proven to increase
occurrence V. WHAT WOMEN’S AGENCY CAN ACHIEVE ! Not only enhances women’s own
freedoms and well-‐being o Reduce child neglect and mortality o Cut down fertility o Broaden social
concern/care ! Womens’s involvement and social achievements related ! Female entrepreneurship
brings social benefits o Grameen Bank in Bangladesh ! Similar changes in other parts of India,
higher literacy and greater economic/social involvement VI. BEHIND A SPLIT INDIA ! Weakened
gender disparity but also reverse developments in Indian Subcontinent o 2001 Indian national
Census o Child female-‐male ratio fallen even lower, sharply in some states o Rise in gender
detarmination of foetuses, eg. sex-‐selective abortions, ”son-‐preference” o Economic participation
and education cannot alone remove natality inequality. Example: South Korea, China, Taiwan etc.
have low female-‐ to-‐male birth ratios o India split in two by female-‐male ratio for age group 0-‐5: !
For comparison: USA 95.7, UK 95.7 [girls per 100 boys] ! North and West India: 79.3 -‐ 87.8 ! East
and South India: above 94 North and West share anti-‐female bias in a way not present (or visible) in
South and East. No economic explanation, cultural/political? ! North and West have more room for
religious-‐based, sectarian politics ! Causalities not certain VII. SUMMING UP ! Effects of gender
equality needs to be carefully studied, specific forms of inequality in certain regions ! Gender equality
hurts not only girls and women, but also boys and men o Biological: childhood undernourishment for
girls, cardiovascular diseases for elder women o Societal: politics and economic life ! Gender
inequalities are numerous ! Growing phenomenon of natality inequality raises complex questions !
New ”high-‐tech” face of gender disparity (sex-‐specific abortions…) ! Informed and critical agency is
important: not just freedom of action but also freedom of thought, women’s ability and willingness to
question received values ...