In his address to us, Judge "Sister" Batema discusses his beliefs on gender issues and the roles that they play in Uganda. By categorizing males and females differently, females in Uganda typically are losing power, status, privilege, and opportunity. He used these key words to describe the categories of discrimination and limitations that are places on women.For example, stereotypes about women working while pregnant, men continuously are the head of finances and the home, and girls are skipped over in passing inheritance. I was very impacted as to how many ways women in Uganda were suppressed and restricted; it inspired me to want to learn more on the topic. But, with the passing of the 1995 Ugandan Constitution, women's rights are more clearly identified, the first clause being "women shall be accorded full and equal dignity of the person with men." But I was shocked to see how much culture is hindering this development as women are still being taught to be submissive and in a lesser role in comparison to men.
Questions:
How can Uganda effectively move towards sustainable development by addressing gender issues without infringing on cultural traditions?
How much of gender issues are dependent on culture? Do you think that with time the idea and practice of gender equality will progressively develop to match the standards in the US? Why or why not?
Gender has a huge impact on many of the issues that we have talked about throughout this trip. Uganda can sustainably fight gender issues by working to vocalize the problem, the more people know about it and understand what is going on, the better they will be able to fix it. Society has to shift altogether before there can be any real change.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to the second question, gender issues are dependent on culture and over the course of time will they change and match up to those in the U.S., as long as Ugandans come together. In the meantime, people need to be informed and educated to be able to become activist, such as Batema, who fights for his rights and the rights of others. One way we can tell whether the country is progressively moving forward would be by noting that men are now being charged and sentenced of rape within a marriage, regardless of cultural differences.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Loida that Ugandan gender rights will eventually reach US standards. The important thing for Ugandan gender education moving forwards is that it should not be taught with the motive to meet western standards, but rather taught from the women of Uganda themselves. For example, the course on education on gender issues Judge Batema had completed was created by Ugandan women themselves, while the effect was a mentality on gender more similar to that you would find in the US.
ReplyDeleteAs for if gender issues will reach U.S. standards it is unclear to me. Although, I would hope for equality advancement, gender roles play a huge culture significance. Therefore, I am impartial because of that matter.
ReplyDeleteI think that in order to effectively move towards sustainable development in gender issue it is necessary for cultural traditions to be infringed upon. This is because the oppression of women is deeply engrained in cultural traditions, and if not challenged, change won't occur. Such cultural traditions I observed whilst on this trip were that of chasing a woman and raping her to wed, polygamy, abuse, child marriages, dowery, etc. I believe that gender issues are entirely dependent on culture because culture is the context in which forms a persons being, including their beliefs and action regarding women. If society is challenged by the idea of gender equality I do believe that equality will increase. It is hard to measure that compared to the US as laws and statistics can communicate some growth, but it does not convey implementation or complete social barriers.
ReplyDeleteGreat post !! Thanks for sharing valuable content.
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