Introduction
In this essay, the concept of development refers to changing of economic growth in developing country that is intended to improve the lives and maximize the potential of humans. The government sets up their growth programs to employ their goal and plays a central role in the economic growth. The domination of government in the developing process is called Hirschman by traditional development economics. This traditional development economics is not really success in characterizing economic development, which involves expansion of people’s capability[1].
As the traditional development economic is dominated by the government in handling on the economic growth, it is not become a problem when the domination of government provides choices for people. The problem happen when the government does not perform the development process for all people; male and female. Both economic growth and human well being go together at the same time. Nevertheless, the growth is not automatically correlated with human development. Further, there is a notion of people welfare that assumes general poverty is the problem that it is not related to women as such. Since poverty, undernourishment, escapable morbidity or avoidable morbidity strikes men as well as women[2], many experts assume that the position of women in those cases does not need to be considered separately. However, data on life expectancy shows us at the first that women have longer life expectancy than men, but then diminish because of growth ignore women’s condition. Sen calls it as a gender gap.
The term of gender un-neutral in development issues seems most popular in developing countries. This term related to the development that cannot give the same opportunity and equality treatment between men and women. In this essay I will examine why the gender gap in the development still exists? How to bridge the gap?
Gender Gap
Gender gap in economic growth can be analyzed through two points: first because of women’s bargaining position and second, the idea about women involves in developing process just as an object of development. According to Sen, women’s bargaining position is related to gender relation that can be seen as cooperative conflict in the household. Bargaining problem in the household is caused by gender division which can be separated into perception of interest, perceived contribution and breakdown well being response[3]. He explains that the gap in perception of interest between men and women influences women’s well being. Furthermore, Agarwal looks at women’s bargaining position in the household and beyond household. She examines gender relation as a bargaining position of women that is called fall-back position. This concept can be defined as the ability of women to life soon after married breakdown in which women have some alternative to survive. Some criteria affect the fall-back position women’s in household including, access to have a land, access to get income, to communal resources, to traditional external support social system, and access to support from the state and NGO. In terms of gender relation beyond the household, Agarwal engages bargaining position as gender relation outside the household with social norms in the society, market and community[4].
Regarding Indonesian women’s bargaining, I take two examples from different societies: matrilineal and patriarchal society. The land rights for women can be found in matrilineal society in West Sumatra, one of provinces in Indonesia. West Sumatran people are known as Minangkabau ethnic group that the only one area practices matrilineal system in Indonesia. The matrilineal system operates in West Sumatran to strengthen the links between women in the extended family. As Sanday states: “the matrilineal system is the transgenerational link in the maternal chain through which pass ancestral land and matrilineal title from the grandmother to the mother and then to the granddaughter and her descendant in the female line”[5]. She emphasizes that women is positioned as the core of the generational family. It means that women have a power to organize their ancestor land. As mentioned by Blackwood, Minangkabau kinship defines access to and control of land through women[6].
In reality, I can see that women in West Sumatra are more independent that that women in Indonesia. Even they are widows, they are not dependent on family but are still capable to raise and educate their children. It is because they have an asset such as arable land to fulfill their basic needs. Matrilocal system in West Sumatra also supports women to survive in fall-back breakdown. When women do not have enough assets, because of poor or other calamity, women in West Sumatra still survive; women who do not have much asset such a land or heritance are still independent. It was because matrilineal culture in West Sumatra since long time ago provided opportunity to women to be active outside. It is not surprise if many women, most widow in West Sumatra, become groceries trader in traditional market. They are traveling from one to other traditional weekly markets to buy and sell groceries all day.
This job is well known as “Manggaleh Babelok”, means that women go to the market everyday at different places around 10-50 kilometer from their areas to southern, northern, eastern and western parts to sell groceries. They get income from their efforts. Thus, women and widows in West Sumatra have bargaining position to men. Women’s bargaining is supported by market, community and social norm. It seems Agarwal’s ideas can be found in West Sumatra too in which women have a property such as land and house from motherside and also have an income through ‘manggaleh babelok’.
Except West Sumatra, all of provinces in Indonesia operate patriarchal system. I compare West Sumatra to Riau Province in terms of labor force, education and female legislator. It is because Riau where located on south-western part of West Sumatra and is similar in terms of geographic, religion and culture to West Sumatra. However, Riau practices patriarchal system affects women’s bargaining. Riau people recognized as Malay ethnic group. Like Java ethnic group, Malay culture with patriarchal society passes the land heritage to their son; women seem to be having less bargaining position in their family. Their system provides opportunity to women to go work for temporary time. They work before married, but after married they ‘force’ to quit from their job. The reason is that Malay culture believes that a good women is devoted to their families such as taking care of children, cooking, cleaning in the household (It is reflect in some Malay poets; “becoming good women have to devote to their family”). Another reason, factories or employers fire them after married, with classical reason such as pregnant women are not productive. Thus, women depend on men and their families. The women’s position getting worst after they are divorce.
Women’s fell back position in Riau province worst than that in West Sumatra. Some indicator can be seen through female labor in both provinces. Data from Human development Index in 2001 shows West Sumatra play a more active role in the labor force. The female labor force in West Sumatra is 40.3%. It is ranked fourth of the 26 provinces in Indonesia and female labor force in Riau Province is 30.0%. In education, data shows that means years schooling for women in West Sumatra is 7.2 years and in Riau is 6.9 years. In the political field, there are five female legislators in West Sumatra house of representative; meanwhile Riau province has three female legislators. The differences between women activities in matrilineal and patriarchal society epitomize the different fall-back position.
However, as globalization afflict every place, traditional market in West Sumatra collided by the capitalism. The investors who support by government built markets and malls in some agriculture land. Ironically, for some reasons, economics or financial, member of extended family tends to sell their land and houses for building new economic growth such as super market and malls. Women who trade their groceries compete with government policy with patriarchal idea in the name of economic growth and globalization. Women become marginalized and doing groceries trade in the limited areas such as rural areas. It is because urban areas are attached by malls and supermarkets. The government with their policies seems ignore women’s job as groceries trader and more support the investor who build malls and modern markets. This temporary job is impact on fall back position. Matrilocal is also changing, many nuclear families prefer to stay in their own home or rent a house, separate from extended family. Some social changing in matrilineal society also changes fallback position. There is a diminish women’s bargaining position in matrilineal society that causing women’s position similar to women in patriarchal society. This phenomenon shows that the gender gap are still exist. So it is important to improve bargaining position but we can not because women still become and object in the development.
Women involve in the development and force to participate in gainong program successfully. It seems the government does not consider about what women’s need and what better for women’s well being. The goal is only to success the programs. For example family planning program in India and Indonesia. In India, as we saw in the movie”Something like a War”, women have to use birth control in order to overcome the ‘baby boom’. This policy seems ignore the culture value in India; when a mother wants to release her reproductive contraception in hoping she can give birth the son who is valuable than a daughter. However, the doctor does not allow her. It shows that even culture value will positioned behind the government program. On the top of that, the most behind is a reproductive choice for women. In the name of population control, they disregard women’s health and women’s desire. It can be understood because mostly women who become target of population control are poor women; they do not have a power to determine what they want to do.
In Indonesia the family planning program during Soeharto regime forced women to use birth control. By using the military force, the government gains success in population control. Like a coin with two sides, this successful program is not follow by the women’s welfare life. A number of poor women still increase and high in mortality rate. In the South East Asia, Indonesia has the highest mortality rate; it is about 18 per 1,000 mothers. This condition epitomizes the women as an object not as subject in development process.
It is clear that the growth analysis ignore women’s role. They did not put gender equality is the main issue. The men seem untouchable in population control program, which is no force to use condom or vasectomy campaign. In contrast, using reproductive contraception tend to women. Women are under pressure to do the government policy. The government wants to reduce the poverty but women did not have a choice to determine their own ways themselves. Most in patriarchal society, women work in the factory, they make money but the money goes to their family. Women become an asset for their family until they get married, become ‘property’ of their husband after married, and desperate poor women after divorce.
Bridge the Gender Gap
All of examples describe that women become an object, they are not subject of development, and women less bargaining position. It result the gender gap in development. Solving the gender gap problem in development seems not easy, but at least we have to create breakthroughs to reduce the gender gap. No matter in matrilineal or patriarchal society, some changes should be happen through increase land right in reformation of law. On the top of that is to change government and people’s mindset that still trapped by patriarchal society idea, by raising gender awareness through training the policy makers. After they get training, hope they can give more opportunities to women become a decision makers, in hoping these female legislators will concern with women’s issue. Then hope that government gives opportunities and choices for women as an agent of social change, thus women not as an object anymore but subject of development.
Conclusion
Un-neutral development causes the gender gap that marginalized women. Women become an object of development program. Bridging the gender gap through raising gender awareness and educated the decision makers who trapped by patriarchal society’s mindset are significant to change their mindset. It is hope education and training will generates them with gender awareness. It also hopes the decision makers provide more opportunities and choices to women. Then they bring women as agent of social change and become subject in the development.
References;
Agarwal, Bina (1994) A Field of One’s Own gender and Land rights in South Asia. New York, CambridgeUniversity Press.
Agarwal, Bina, (1997), Bargaining and Gender Relation Within and Beyond the Household, in Feminist Economics 3 (1), Journal article, p1-51
Blackwood, Evelyn, (1993), Webs of Power Women, Kin, and Community in A Sumatran Village, New York, Rowman & Littelfield Publisher, Inc.
Hartmann, Betsy, (without year), “The Indonesian “Success” and the Kenyan “Failure”, in reproductive Rights and Wrongs, The Global Politics of Population Control, Boston, Massachusetts, South End Press
Sanday, Peggy Reeves, (2002), Women at the Center, Life in a Modern Patriarchy. Ithaca, NY; Cornell University Press.
Sen, Amartya ,(without year), Development:Which Way Now? in Wilber, Charles K and Jameson P.Kenneth The Political Economy of Development and Underdevelopment , new York, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Sen, Amartya ,(1990), Gender and Cooperative Conflicts in Persistent Inequalities, Women and World Development, edited by Irene Tinker, New York, Oxford, Oxford University Press,
[1] Sen, Amartya , Development:Which Way Now? in Wilber, Charles K and Jameson P.Kenneth The Political Economy of Development and Underdevelopment , new York, McGraw-Hill, Inc. p. 21
[2] Sen, Amartya, Gender and Cooperative Conflicts in Persistent Inequalities, Women and World Development, edited by Irene Tinker, New York, Oxford, Oxford University Press, p.122
[3] Ibid, p.132-133
[4] Agarwal, Bina A Field of One’s Own gender and Land rights in South Asia. New York, CambridgeUNiversity Press, p.70
[5] Sanday, Peggy Reeves Women at the Center, Life in a Modern Patriarchy. Ithaca, NY; Cornell University Press p 27
[6] Blackwood, Evelyn, Webs of Power Women, Kin, and Community in A Sumatran Village, New York, Rowman & Littelfield Publisher, Inc p.132
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