Gender issues In general, when considering third world countries, most would
say that they have some very similar characteristics. Third world countries are
often thought of as places that are impoverished, have significantly high
birthrates, are economically dependent on advanced countries, and have not
evolved socially in regards to equal rights issues.
Although many of these characteristics do apply to Sri Lanka, the latter has
definitely evoked some discussion on the topic of gender issues in
underdeveloped countries. Issues such as decision making in the household,
educated women and their role in society, and attitudes towards women in
employment will be discussed. As stated earlier, most would agree that from a
distant perspective Sri Lanka would seem to be socially underdeveloped in
regards to equal rights. One way that this misconception is debunked is by
looking at the roles of male and female in the household.
There are many variables to take into consideration when looking at roles of
family members and who has the balance of power; for instance, if the wife is
working or not could be considered at both ends of the scale. If she is working
than her husband may feel that because she is making a financial contribution
she has more of a right to make important economic decisions that may effect the
family. On the other hand he may feel as though her being away from the children
is a detriment to their upbringing, and in turn is placing a burden upon the
family leaving the wife with few domestic decisions.
Another variable that has to be considered is if the residence is with the
husband's family or if it is with the wife's family. In this case one would
assume that whichever house was being resided in would have the balance of the
say towards family decisions. The last variable that will be considered is that
of marital duration. Does a longer marriage necessarily mean that the financial
and domestic decisions of the household will become split evenly between the
husband and wife?
The answers to these questions were the focus of a study conducted by Anju
Malhotra and Mark Mather in 1992. The study showed that when the wives were
working, regardless of whether or not they shared their wages or kept them, they
had an increase say on financial matters. However, the domestic decisions were
not nearly as great, especially if the wages earned by the wife were kept for
herself (Malhotra et al. 1997: 620). When looking at the balance of power in
regards to household arrangement, the study found that the wife had almost no
say on financial matters when living at the husband's parents house but did have
some say on domestic issues. The opposite it true for when the family resided at
the wife's parents house.
The wife typically had a significant say on financial and domestic matters
with the latter outweighing the two (Malhotra et al. 1997: 620). As far as
marital duration is concerned, it seems as though as the family grows together
there is somewhat of a role reversal. The husband becomes more concerned with
domestic matters and the wife takes some responsibility for the financial
decisions (Malhotra et al. 1997:620). These findings led my research group to
believe that the people of Sri Lanka are generally very similar to those of
western societies in regards to household decisions.
Education is not something we think about when speaking about developing
countries, many assume that it is just not an option for underprivileged people.
Although that is the unfortunate truth that effects many third world countries,
it does seem that Sri Lanka is on its way to recovering itself. For many years
the gender gap between male and female scholars needed to be decreased. In the
early 1980's the percentage of the total amount of people with university
degrees that were women was barely above 40%. A more alarming fact might be that
the percentage with post-graduate degrees was barely above 25% (Ahooja-Patel K.
1979: 217).
The majority of women pursuing a degree usually did so in the fine arts
category or the education and teacher training fields, many staying away from
disciplines such as business or engineering. Although these numbers may seem
staggering Sri Lanka has shown some promise in terms of social welfare. Programs
are now in place to encourage female education and to decrease the inequalities
women face today. In the early 1990's the gender gap between literate males and
females was only a 5% difference (Malhotra et al. 1997: 602).
Many believe that the more westernized Sri Lanka becomes the more independent
the thoughts and wills of women will expand, creating a country of little
inequality. Women in the work force today in western society face many barriers;
this is after years of trying to refine the social economic status of women.
