Gender and Human Rights - A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Gender and Human Rights: A Cross-Cultural Comparison: 

Gender and Human Rights: A Cross-Cultural Comparison By Matt Cockerill

Why Are Women’s Rights Violated?: 

Why Are Women’s Rights Violated? The human r ights of women are systematically violated in much of the world. By violating women’s rights, a country seemingly contradicts its self-interest. Women’s rights intimately linked with economic well-being of society in which they live (Coleman, 2004). Why would a society be willing to undermine itself to oppress women?

Why Women’s Rights are Violated: 

Why Women’s Rights are Violated In a nutshell: Sexist Social norms, perpetuated through enculturation .

Central Questions: 

Central Questions In every society, norms contribute to the subjugation and oppression of women. But at a cross-cultural level, how do countries compare in this regard? The answer(s) to this question is my thesis. That’s a broad question, which can be divided into two sub-questions. 1) Do any norms lead to violations of women’s rights across different cultures? 2) How do cultures differ in the gender norms and women’s rights-violations they exhibit?

Thesis Part 1: 

Thesis Part 1 In regards to question 1, I answer yes . Social and religious conservatism, in terms of a fundamentalist interpretation of Abrahamic faith, facilitate women’s rights-violation.

Thesis Part 2: 

Thesis Part 2 My answer to question 2 ended up nuanced. Cultures differ. Clearly, Women’s rights in many respects violated more in Saudi Arabia than US. B ut differences are so nuanced that blanket characterizations of a country as “sexist” or “progressive” wrongheaded. This is the impetus for a theoretical perspective of moral relativism (more on this later ). Now, on to the cross-cultural analysis which led me to my thesis.

Answering the Questions: 

Answering the Questions To investigate these questions, I conducted a cross-cultural analysis of three very different countries: Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, and the United States.

Saudi Arabia: 

Saudi Arabia A theocratic kingdom ruled by fundamentalist Muslim sect called Wahhabism (Cleveland, 231-234). Saudi royal family and ulama religious scholars share power in the Kingdom (Cleveland, 231-234).

Saudi Norms and Women’s Rights: 

Saudi Norms and Women’s Rights Sharia law in Saudi Arabia adheres to Quranic literalism. This entails some protection of women, particularly laudable the unequivocal right of women to health care Health care heavily emphasized in Islam Qur’an: “ second to faith, no one has ever given a greater blessing than health.” However, oppression of women due to religious conservatism far more salient. Cultural conservatism, particularly the widely-held view (not found in Qur’an) that women must be confined to household also plays role ( Zuhur , 2005). Together, these factors lead to women being denied right to vote, drive, live alone, and work for equal pay ( Zuhur , 2005). Religiously/culturally-induced sexual repression, illustrated by mandatory wearing of oppressive abaya garment.

The United States: 

The United States A bastion of capitalism and individualism. One of the most religious countries in the West (Pew, 2002).

American Norms and Women’s Rights: 

American Norms and Women’s Rights Ideals of individualism lead to a strong protection of women’s “negative rights.” Meaning: because of these ideals, Americans typically don’t seek to actively prevent women from doing anything that doesn’t harm another person. possible exception of abortion. Again due to religion. Track record on equality of opportunity (positive rights) less good. Women routinely paid less for same work than men (World Economic Forum, 2011). Sexual expression of women uniquely demonized as “slutty.” These rights-violations are, like Saudi Arabia, facilitated by social and religious conservatism (World Economic Forum, 2011; Pew, 2002). Laissez Faire outlook may also prevent gov from intervening to protect women’s positive rights.

The Netherlands: 

The Netherlands Secular and progressive European welfare state which champions personal freedom and lifestyle libertinism.

Norms in the Netherlands and Women’s Rights : 

Norms in the Netherlands and Women’s Rights Like America, The Netherlands has sterling record on protecting negative rights of women (Unlike America, no strong“pro -life” movement). Stems from Western-style devotion to personal liberty, codified in Dutch Constitution. As an egalitarian, socialistic society, strong record upholding women’s positive rights to health, political participation and most other positive rights (World Economic Forum, 2011). However, imperfect regarding positive rights. Significant cultural conservative demographic (12%) insists women should be confined to the home ( Verloo et al, 2002). This leads to wider wage and labor participation rate gaps than even US (World Economic Forum, 2011 ).

Conclusion: 

Conclusion The norms of religious and cultural conservatism consistently lead to sexism. However, the degree of sexism a country practices is a nuanced and complicated matter. To acknowledge and cope with this nuance, we should embrace methodological relativism. Methodology which advocates non-judgmental approach to anthropological study of other cultures ( Lukes , 82-92). Doesn’t entail eliminating moral judgment, but does entail suspending it while analyzing the norms of other cultures. Rejecting clichéd thinking of some cultures as “sexist” and others as “feminist” will help us better understand and compare diverse cultural norms.

Implication: 

Implication Through practicing moral relativism, we can better understand foreign cultures. By understanding foreign cultures, we can implement successful feminist reforms around the world.

Works Cited 1: 

Works Cited 1 Coleman, I. (2004). The payoff from women's rights. Foreign Affairs. Zuhur , S. (2005). Saudi Arabia, Islamic Threat, Political Reform, and the Global War on Terror. Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute. Gallup (2010). Four in 10 Americans Believe in Strict Creationism. Retrieved from < http://www.gallup.com/poll/145286/four-americans-believe-strict-creationism.aspx > Gallup (2009). What Alabamians and Iranians Have in Common. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/114211/Alabamians-Iranians-Common.aspx Hausmann , R. (2011). The Global Gender Gap Report 2011. Geneva, Switzerland: World Economic Forum. < http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2011.pdf >\ Koggel , C. (2006). Moral Issues in Global Perspective: Moral And Political Theory. (2nd ed.). (pp. 1-20). New York, New York: Broadview Press . Pollis , A., & Schwab, P. (1979). Human rights: a western construct with limited applicability. In A. Pollis & P. Schwab (Eds.), Human Rights: Cultural and Ideological Perspectives New York, New York: Praeger . Song, S. (2007). Justice, Gender, and the Politics of Multiculturalism. (pp. 30-55). New York, New York: Cambridge University Press. Cook, R. (1994). Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives. (pp. 1-20). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. Cleveland, W. (2004). A History of the Modern Middle East. (pp. 122-125; 231-234). Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press .

Works Cited 2: 

Works Cited 2 The United Nations. (2009, April 14). Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences. The United Nations General Assembly. Retrieved from <http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/11session/A.HRC.11.6.Add.3_en.pdf> Swim, J,. Aikin , K,. Hall, S,. & Hunter, B. (1995). Sexism and Racism: Old-fashioned and modern prejudices. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(2), 199-214. Verloo , M., Scheepers , P., & Gesthuizen , M. (2002). Support for the discrimination of women on the labour market in the netherlands : Individual and contextual characteristics. The Netherlands Journal of Social Science, 38, 48-64. Melina, R. (2011, June 21). ‘Queen Bee’ Bosses Often Victims of Sexist Workplace. LiveScience . Retrieved from <http://www.livescience.com/14695queen-bee-bossbehaviorsexism.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Livesciencecom+%28LiveScience.com+Science+Headline+Feed%29> World Values Survey. (2005). ‘2005 World Values Survey Questionnaire.’ Retrieved from <http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2010/09/swedes-are-not-sexist-or-nativist > US Bureau of Labor. (2012). ‘Civilian labor force participation rates by age, sex, race, and ethnicity.’ Retrieved from <http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_303.htm> Sadler, A., Booth, B., Cook, B., & Doebbeling , B. (2003). “Factors Associated with Women’s Risk of Rape in the Military Environment.” American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 43, 262-273. < http://ccasa.org/wp-content/themes/skeleton/documents/Rape-in-the-Military-Environment.pdf> “Why Dutch Women don't Work Long Hours.” (2010, November 17). The Economist. Lukes , S. (2008). Moral Relativism. (pp. 82-92). London, England: Picador Books.