Equality and development
Yesterday I met up with K for dinner and drinks. We stumbled on to the topic of feminism as I’ve been reading some great books and have been thinking about my brand of feminism. An additional reason is that I’m at odds with a friend of hers who spouts misogynist crap whenever he opens he mouth. K’s not worried about that because after all he’s only 21, he’ll get more tolerant when he’s older. Of course K, he’ll stop stalking women that have told him never. He’ll stop choosing interns based on his desire to fuck them. Sure he will.
Anyway K told me weeks ago that she is not a feminist. It seems like people have the weirdest ideas about what it is to be a feminist. You do not have to be “fat, ugly, lesbian, man-hating, shrewish, whorish, or frigid” to be a feminist. I’d direct to K to Feminism 101 but her work has blocked access to blogs.
It is surprising because K is the embodiment of an independent woman. She has worked in harsh conditions throughout the developing world. She had repeatedly chosen her career over her relationships. She demands equality in all things but says she is not a feminist because we have already achieved gender equality. I disagree.
Anyway we spent a good three hours discussing the matter and we went back 300 years and across continents in our arguments.
It is difficult to see progress in Cambodia with regard to gender relations. Not a single day passes without a newspaper article detailing the vicious rape and murder of girls and women. I could blog them every day but I’m not sure that does any good. Perhaps equality comes with development. K rejects that idea not because of equality but because of “development”. She is of the opinion that the western model of development should not be imposed upon developing countries because it is our model and not home grown. That sentiment is all very well but unless someone has an alternative suggestion, the western model will be the default. I am not saying I support this but alternative solutions must be available before one model is abandoned.
An analogy of this idea is that of the production of coca (made into cocaine) and alternative development. In Colombia, farmers farmed coca and the government sprayed it with mycoherbicides on the orders of the US. As an alternative the government promised seeds and financial support to those farmers who agreed to destroy their crops. The farmers did and they waited for the promised support. And they waited and they waited and they starved and some died from mycoherbicide poisoning. Eventually half of what was promised arrived months too late. And that is a problem
Everything must be in place before action is taken. If you want an alternative development strategy not related to the western model, it must be fully mapped out. Does gender equality come with development. Many developing countries cultures are rooted in inequality. How can a society treat citizens equally when a woman cannot hand something directly to a monk? She has to place the object on a surface or hand it to a man before the monk can touch it. What about the 14 year girl who is the prettiest in her family and so is sent to Phnom Penh to prostitute herself for the good of her family? It is difficult enough to define all but the most cut and dried of rape cases in the west but here theirs is virtually no concept of it. Good girls get married and accept their husband’s brothel visits. Bad girls deserve what they get.
We argued back and forth development, equality and feminism and the relationship between the three elements. Of course we didn’t solve any problems and the more we talked, the more the problems seemed insurmountable. If nothing else then we can take every opportunity to point out the inequality we see.
And after our discussion, I think K might reconsider her attitude to the feminist/not feminist position.
Anyway K told me weeks ago that she is not a feminist. It seems like people have the weirdest ideas about what it is to be a feminist. You do not have to be “fat, ugly, lesbian, man-hating, shrewish, whorish, or frigid” to be a feminist. I’d direct to K to Feminism 101 but her work has blocked access to blogs.
It is surprising because K is the embodiment of an independent woman. She has worked in harsh conditions throughout the developing world. She had repeatedly chosen her career over her relationships. She demands equality in all things but says she is not a feminist because we have already achieved gender equality. I disagree.
Anyway we spent a good three hours discussing the matter and we went back 300 years and across continents in our arguments.
It is difficult to see progress in Cambodia with regard to gender relations. Not a single day passes without a newspaper article detailing the vicious rape and murder of girls and women. I could blog them every day but I’m not sure that does any good. Perhaps equality comes with development. K rejects that idea not because of equality but because of “development”. She is of the opinion that the western model of development should not be imposed upon developing countries because it is our model and not home grown. That sentiment is all very well but unless someone has an alternative suggestion, the western model will be the default. I am not saying I support this but alternative solutions must be available before one model is abandoned.
An analogy of this idea is that of the production of coca (made into cocaine) and alternative development. In Colombia, farmers farmed coca and the government sprayed it with mycoherbicides on the orders of the US. As an alternative the government promised seeds and financial support to those farmers who agreed to destroy their crops. The farmers did and they waited for the promised support. And they waited and they waited and they starved and some died from mycoherbicide poisoning. Eventually half of what was promised arrived months too late. And that is a problem
Everything must be in place before action is taken. If you want an alternative development strategy not related to the western model, it must be fully mapped out. Does gender equality come with development. Many developing countries cultures are rooted in inequality. How can a society treat citizens equally when a woman cannot hand something directly to a monk? She has to place the object on a surface or hand it to a man before the monk can touch it. What about the 14 year girl who is the prettiest in her family and so is sent to Phnom Penh to prostitute herself for the good of her family? It is difficult enough to define all but the most cut and dried of rape cases in the west but here theirs is virtually no concept of it. Good girls get married and accept their husband’s brothel visits. Bad girls deserve what they get.
We argued back and forth development, equality and feminism and the relationship between the three elements. Of course we didn’t solve any problems and the more we talked, the more the problems seemed insurmountable. If nothing else then we can take every opportunity to point out the inequality we see.
And after our discussion, I think K might reconsider her attitude to the feminist/not feminist position.
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