Culture and Gender Equality: Analysis of Case Studies

Birutė Sabatauskaitė

„Advancing Gender Training to Support Effective Gender Mainstreaming”

13th November, 2012

Culture and cultural relativism

Culture – ordinary part of the process through which any social organisation develops and reproduces itself (Raymond Williams).

Cultural relativism – the view that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the individual within his own social context.

Case study 1

Can polygamous relationship be justified based on cultural relativism?

Is it a violation of gender equality if one of the leaders marries a second wife;

Experience of Senegalese women;

Can culture justify oppression of women?

Case Study 2

Early marriage as a reason for early-school-drop-out:

Should it be tackled by educational system?

Assumption that it is a cultural practice / cannot be questioned;

Majority in power to decide.

Case Study 3

Division of group work based on binary approach to gender:

Workshop on sexism and sexual harrassement;

Splitting participants into 2 groups – men and women – justified or not?

Case Study 4

Differential treatment of people based on their assumed religion:

An Egyptian woman wearing hijab as an

educational practice;

Adapting the training programme making assumptions about religion;

Forcing cultural relativism on ethnocultural minorities?

Conclusions 1

Cultural relativism and power to decide;

Representation of white middle class able women of majority ethnic background;

Conclusions 2

Culture is not static;

Sensitivity towards, but not fear to question;

Importance of preparations of trainings.