Title: Gender and power: six links and one big opportunity
Headings: Gender and power: six links and one big opportunity
21st May 2015
Gender and power: six links and one big opportunity
Diana Koester
'... development work could be more politically smart and more effective if it addressed this blind spot'
'... gender and power are intrinsically linked; understanding this can help us understand both concepts better'
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Diana Koester
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Content: Often what it means to be a 'woman' is to be powerless (quiet, obedient, accommodating). A ‘real man’, by contrast, is powerful (outspoken, in control, able to impose his will), particularly in relation to women. These gender roles tend to perpetuate the power inequalities that they are based on. For example, the fact that many men and women think it’s not ‘natural’ for women to speak up in public often poses a key barrier to women’s access to decision-making. ‘ Power equals masculinity’ also helps explain why powerful people often demonstrate dominance in gendered ways. In Malawi, for example, leaders have traditionally asserted their ‘big man’ status by getting women to offer sexual ‘favours’ to party leaders and functionaries. As a result they have established “the mobilisation of women in subordinate and exploitative roles as an enduring feature of Malawi’s political system.” The family is an arena of power and politics. Power dynamics in families and households interact with those in the ‘public’ sphere in shaping development outcomes. In Sri Lanka, increased female employment and access to resources challenged power relations between men and women in households, and often led to conflict in families.