Women Across Cultures: Similarities and Differences in Experiences
Women across the globe have been facing various issues and challenges since time immemorial. The intensity of these experiences varies from culture to culture. Cultural practices in different parts of the world either intensify or diminish these challenges. This blog analyses experiences of women across cultures in terms of underlying similarities at an internal level and broad differences at an external societal level which plays a crucial role in these experiences. Few day-to-day important experiences of women that need to be understood are the narratives and issues linked to physical attractiveness, family responsibilities, work/ professional roles and the role of feminist activism. An underlying similarity in all these themes is the gender bias as practised across the globe. The style of responding and behaving on each one of them varies from culture to culture according to the way these themes are perceived in a particular culture along with the psychosocial factors operational and dominant in a culture.
First and foremost, let's discuss the expectation and societal norms associated with the body image, physical attractiveness, weight, height and overall figure of women. Worldwide women face immense pressure related to physical beauty. This immense pressure to look good and attractive forces them to indulge in various surgical interventions having long term impact on health. These are more common in western cultures along with traditional practices such as wearing rings around the neck, piercing, braiding etc which are more common in tribal areas. The perceptions of what is considered as attractive in a woman in terms of physical appearance varies from culture to culture. The differences lie at local and regional levels also, where being thin may be a sign of beauty in one part of the globe and being curvy may be the sign of beauty in the other part. Women abide by the cultural norms prevalent in their domicile.
Second variable that needs discussion in the similarities and the differences is the role that a woman plays as a caregiver, mother, wife and daughter. Universally it is considered as a women’s domain to take care of the house and its family members. Gender roles related to menstruation and womanhood are highly respected and valued in few cultures. There are several rituals, myths, stigmas and dogmas adhering to women in various cultures related to this important aspect of womanhood. Similarly, not being able to conceive or bear a child is also viewed differently across cultures. It is a major part of women’s identity. This identity is shaken if the women is unable to bear a child. The societal perception and behaviour towards women on this are largely shaped by the cultural norms, rearing up practices, level of education, exposure to the larger world and ones belief system. For example, the mother’s role for Japanese women has traditionally involved independence and power, with mothers having almost complete control over family decisions related to their children and having respected status as an influence group when speaking about children’s needs (Bankart, 1989). In some Igbo communities in Africa, as in other matrilineal cultures, family lineage is determined through the mother, making mothers a central force in defining their families (Nzegwu, 2004). The differences lie in the support provided to women across cultures in being able to carry on this role. Some cultures provide full support to women both inside and outside home so as to enable women to carry these roles efficiently whereas few other are oblivious of women’s situation around them.
Third variable that cannot be ignored is the work or professional role that a woman plays outside their homes. Cultural norms play a very important role in determining whether women are economically and financially independent through their own earnings or are they dependent on the male figures in the house for the same. According to a United Nations Statistics Division survey in Saudi Arabia, only 18% of women are economically active, compared with 92% in Burundi. However, over half of the women in most of the countries polled by the United Nations are economically active, suggesting that the worldwide norm is for women to carry the double burden of work both outside and in the home (United Nations Statistics Division, 2016a). According to the Gender Inequality Index (GII) 2022, Yemen is the least gender equal country in the world. These and similar statistics highlight the gender disparity in terms of both the workforce and the gender wage gap. Women are paid much less for the same work compared to men.
These were some of the broad and most relevant areas of gender disparity and the cross-cultural impact on these has been briefly discussed above. What needs a mention here is the feminist activism as introduced and practised in the world for the betterment of the women all over the world. These active efforts by collective women groups have led to improvement in the lives of millions of women across the globe. Despite disparities and differences in the ground reality of women in several parts of the world collective feminist efforts have helped development on several platforms aiming at improving the situation of women. Strategies such as provisions in legislation, ease of legal discourse, effective networking and efforts to educate women on their rights has been instrumental in improving the situation. Along with this what is needed is the change in the cultural norms at the grass root level in terms of promoting gender equality in each and every aspect of life.
Name : Dr Neha Jain
Designation: Programme Chair, Associate Professor
Department: Department of Psychology
Broad Areas of Research: Counterproductive work behaviours, Organizational Justice, Spiritual Intelligence, Ethical climate, Tool development.
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