Gender Economics: An Overview

Week 5Ann Marie CoteA. Robyn Zilber

“The Study of Women and Gender in Economics: An Overview”

Lourdes Beneria

● Economics as a field was male-dominated● Second wave of feminism (1960s to 1990s)

– Filtering economics through feminist ideas

● Macro vs Micro Policies

Mincer and “Human Capital”

New Household Economics

Betty Friedan

Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan

Questions?

“A woman has got to be able to say, and not feel guilty, 'Who am I, and what do I want out of life?' She mustn't feel selfish

and neurotic if she wants goals of her own, outside of husband and children.” -

Betty Friedan

“Each suburban wife struggles with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night- she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question – 'Is this all?'” - Betty Friedan

Questions?

“The problem that has no name (which is simply the fact that American women are

kept from growing to their full human capacities) is taking a far greater toll on the

physical and mental health of our country than any known disease.” - Betty Friedan

“Over and over again, stories in women's magazines insist that women can know fulfilment only at the moment of giving birth to a child. They deny the years when she can no longer look forward to giving birth, even if she repeats the act over and over again. In the feminine mystique, there is no other way for a woman to dream of creation or of the future. There is no other way she can even dream about herself, except as her children's mother, her husband's wife.” - Betty Friedan

Feminism and Marxism

Macro vs. Micro

“Emancipation and its Failures”Viviene Taylor

● Poverty prevents empowerment● Women need to mobilize to enact change

“It's all about Privilege”Slutwalk

Are Women Empowered?

Reflections

ReferencesBooksBeneriam L. (2003). The study of women and gender in economics: An overview. In Gender, development, and globalization: Economics as if all people mattered (pp. 31-62). New York: Routledge.Friedan, B. (1966). The feminine mystique. New York: Norton.Mincer, J. (1981). Human Capital and Economic Growth. Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research.Nicholson, L. (1997). The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism. In The second wave: A reader in feminist theory (pp. 97-122). New York: Routledge.

ArticlesTaylor, V. (2010). Questioning empowerment. Development, 53(2), pages 164-168.Pollak, R. (2003). Gary Becker's contributions to family and household economics. Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, 1(1), pages 111-141.

FilmsVideo The Feminine Mystique Watch Makers Women Who Make America Online PBS Video. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p6q578Bw94/

ReferencesImagesA question. (2007, March 20). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/fredarmitage/428990598/Beautiful Hearts! (2012, July 29). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/vinothchandar/5464582772/ Beautiful Autumn Carpet. (2014, October 6). Retrieved January 27, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanzim/15271378508/ Books. (2011, December 1). Retrieved January 27, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/6365101775/ Class in economy. Teacher. Retrieved January 23, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/8384584766/Marcha de las putas. Buenos Aires 2014 / Slut walk. (2014, November 25). Retrieved January 31, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/santiagosuburbano/15249937683/Marxist feminist dialectic. (2011, August 27). Retrieved January 29, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruminatrix/6086057524/Midiendo fuerzas... (2008, December 6). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/marinacast/2255974192/ My book. (2010, March 8). Retrieved January 29, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/cinziarizzo/3772599521/ Reflections I. (2014, July 22). Retrieved January 30, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/104815519@N08/14716279972/ Studying at Woman's College Library, 1950s. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/dukeyearlook/2109132618/ The power of transformation. (2009, July 15). Retrieved January 28, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/spiritual_marketplace/3721741328/ Transformation. (2009, December 12). Retrieved January 27, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/alicepopkorn/4180311522/