Women's role in society

Women's role in society

Most of us who have been faithfully watching the news on
television in the past few days are no doubt aware that at this
very moment an important international meeting is taking place in
Jakarta to discuss the role of women in development. In the past
few days about 500 delegates -- women as well as men -- from 54
countries in the Asia-Pacific region have met to gloss over their
differences and come up with a draft plan of action and a
declaration for the advancement of women in the Asia-Pacific
region. This senior officials meeting was to prepare for the
Second Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Women in
Development, which President Soeharto inaugurated yesterday.

It must have been heartening, especially for the Indonesian
participants of the conference, to hear the President in his
address remark that since Indonesia fully understands the
importance of the role of women in development, educational
opportunities for women are to be improved in the coming years as
this country prepares for take-off towards self-sustained
development. As proof of Indonesia's appreciation of the role of
women in development, the President reminded the conference that
some of this country's most memorable successes in development --
such as in planned parenthood and public health -- were achieved
with the help of PKK, the family welfare program in which the key
role is played by women.

Yet, it must be admitted that in many countries -- Indonesia
included -- the road towards the full recognition of the role of
women is not always smooth. Among the main obstacles is what
experts refer to as "gender bias." Ask any woman participant in
the Second Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Women in
Development what the main roadblock to their full participation
is, and the most likely answer will be. "the gender bias that
prevails in society."

Most analysts agree that though gender bias exists in every
country and in every stratum of society, it is especially
pervasive in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin
America. A study made a couple of years ago for the Worldwatch
Institute, for example, says that in its most generic form bias
boils down to grossly unequal allocations of resources. In form
it ranges from the exclusion of women from development programs
to wage discrimination and systemic violence against women. At
root, according to this report, are three fallacies that usually
underlie conventional economic thinking.

The first is that economic growth is gender-blind; both men
and women benefit equally from it. The second fallacy is that the
traditional Western model of a "household" -- in which the
father, the mother and the children share a common interest and
work towards common goals -- applies to all societies. The third
misconception is that within households the burdens and benefits
of poverty and wealth will be distributed equally regardless of
gender.

Without having to go into detailed arguments, we think it must
be clear that such misconceptions still exist today in many, if
not most, developing countries. And although Indonesia can
consider itself fortunate to belong to the more advanced
countries in this particular respect, bias still exists to a
certain degree, especially in the more tradition-bound groups of
our society. Thus, too may women are prevented from developing
their full potential as productive members of our society. We
think it is time to recognize that whenever this happens, society
is the loser.