There are many aspects by which a country and be judged and found gender biased. Determining factors include education, employment opportunities, as well as rates of domestic violence. All of these contributing factors will often paint where the women of a nation stand. In many countries around the world, these traits are seen very clearly. The women of India are at an obvious disadvantage, as are the women in many African cultures. However, some societies around the world have hidden gender inequalities. The people of Honduras provide a good example of how plain the inequality can be without being noticed by the world. The women of Honduras are not as well educated as men, they are underemployed. Laws are being put in place to protect women within their own homes but little else is being done, suggesting a woman’s place, in Honduras, is inside her home.
According to Boris Branisa, author of “Gender Inequality in Social Institutions and Gendered Development Outcomes”, the rates of men and women receiving secondary education differ by nearly 9 percent (252). 40% of men receive secondary education while just 31% of women receive secondary education. Branisa postulates the reason for this lies in Honduras’ patriarchal nature, as well as the ease with which men obtain work. It makes more sense for men to stay in school, obtain an education, and get a better job because it is easier for them to do so (255). However, this puts women at a severe disadvantage. Dropping out at such a young age, they have two options: to find a minimum wage job or to marry and bear children, says Diana Carmen Deere, in her report, “Poverty, Hardship, and Gender Inequality in Asset Ownership in Latin America.” Each option leaves the Honduran women stuck in an economical rut, relying on her family or a significant other to help her survive. Her role begins to become solely within the home.
Honduras is a patriarchal society; men are respected quicker and more easily than women. They are given better jobs more quickly than women would receive them, and sometimes with far less education . Though the population is not booming, men still have the upper hand. Lucy Ferguson questioned these practices in her article, published in International Feminist Journal of Politics. If, even with more education, a woman is denied a job that she is more qualified for, it only ensure that she is held down by society and forced to depend on others (7). In Honduras specifically, 80% of the male population is working, while only 40% of the female population is working, according to statistics listed in Shawn F. Dorius and Glenn Firebaugh’s studies published in Social Forces (1943). Glenn and Firebaugh went on to state that most of the employment women are able to find involve agriculture or cooking, cleaning, and gardening (1944). This keeps the women of Honduras in a state of perpetual poverty. Maids do not earn enough to live on their own, nor do female agriculturalists. Men who go into the agricultural industry often make enough to meagerly support their families but women rarely make enough to support just them. This constant state of poverty makes it impossible for women to make a plan or get ahead. They are always relying on somebody else, whether it is family or a significant other (1945). While they sustain Honduras’ agricultural backbone, they do not learn the skills to survive outside of this rural life, giving further evidence that the role of women in Honduras is to serve others and stay at home.
In Honduras, women have little voice. They do not get out often and few opportunities to better their lives. Fortunately, in 1998 a bill was passed that allowed women legal recourse if they were beaten or threatened in their own home, as stated by Katherine Ronderos, author of, “Poverty Reduction, Political Violence, and Women’s Rights in Honduras (317).” This was a big step forward for the country; previously if a woman was beaten in her own home by a relative or spouse, she was considered nothing short of property. The authorities would often look the other way and no repercussions would fall upon the perpetrator (318). There was expected to be a wave of women’s rights after this monumental bill was passed, and while it has decreased domestic violence, little progress has been made since (319). Though there have been murmurs from women about education and employment reform, nothing has been done. Men are still educated longer than women and receive jobs far easier. The passing of this bill, only to protect women within their own homes was gracious. Women do need to be protected, but it is a bittersweet reminder that they need the most protection at home because that is where Honduras thinks they belong.
In sum, the role of women in Honduras is to serve the patriarchal society. Men are able to stay in school longer and even if they do not or cannot, they are still able to find employment easier. Typically women who drop out either find a low-paying job or begin having children. The jobs are typically of the agricultural or cleaning variety. If they marry, they are at home raising children. The only affordance they have been offered was protection in their own home from abusive, angry husbands. Since no progress has been made to help women’s situation since the bill to protect them at home was passed, it is safe to say that the role of women in Honduras is to take care of the home, raise children, and do as her husband says.
References
Branisa, Boris. "Gender Inequality in Social Institutions and Gendered Development Outcomes." World Development (2013): 252-268. Print.
Deere, Diana Carmen. Poverty, Hardship, and Gender Inequality in Asset Ownership in Latin America. Miami: Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, 2010. Print.
Dorius, Shawn F. and Glenn Firebaugh. "Trends in Global Gender Inequality." Social Forces (2010): 1941-1968. Print.
Ferguson, Lucy. "Interrogating ‘Gender’ in Development Policy and Practice." International Feminist Journal of Politics (2010): 3-24. Print.
Ronderos, Katherine. "Poverty Reduction, Political Violence, and Women's Rights in Honduras." Community Development Journal (2011): 315-326. Print.
