The literature review has explored the arguments within the top down and bottom up approaches. The bottom down approach literature has highlighted some of the complexities involved within gender development and how these smaller processes impact upon wider social institutions. In addition, the research has highlighted how social processes have different impacts upon gender inequality and how these social processes differ between communities. My research aims to contribute towards the understanding of one such social process which is the social construction of gender roles. However, to further locate the relevance of this research within wider gender development discourse it is important to explore literature which explicitly examines social construction of gender and how this impacts gender inequality.
The literature within this section has been very influential in creating the research agenda of this research project. The debates and studies within this section have contributed great critique on existing UN and World Bank led gender development projects and why the social constructions of gender are significantly important to understand. The literature was again found by using Jyvaskyla’s online library database by searching for gender projects which focus on issues of gender based violence. The literature was then chosen due to its explicit focus on the social construction of gender in helping to explain gender based violence.
In 2006, Moffet conducted a narrative case study on South Africa with the aim of exploring why rates of sexual violence against women were so high in the country. She argued that the extremely high rates of incidences and the failures within both the criminal justice and medical system suggested an ‘unacknowledged gender civil war’ (Moffet, 2006, pg129). However, she also claims that whilst Western theories propose the ‘anger, fear and inadequacy of individual men as central to the ‘story’ of why men rape’ (Moffet, 2006, pg131) these frameworks are not adequate in explaining the South African narrative. The researcher conducts her work by analysing narratives of rape within public media and discourse. She collects these narratives in order to gain an insight in to how ‘rape’ is conceptualised and understood within the society.
Whilst the author claims that she believes that ‘the cause of sexual violence lies in the construction of dominant masculinities found in all patriarchal social systems,’ her findings also highlight a relationship between narratives of sexual violence and the experience of the
23
apartheid. The research suggests that in South Africa, acts of rape ‘draw on apartheid practices of control that have permeated all sectors of society’ (Moffet, 2006, pg 129). The author argues that women are the ‘other’ within society and have socially understood inferiority in comparison to men. Whilst this is true in most societies, Mofftet suggests that the history of the country has seen the ‘other’ as potentially powerful and unstable which needs to be controlled and policed. Thus, now that the ‘other’ is the female ‘some men believe that by resorting to sexual violence, they are participating in a socially approved project to keep women within certain boundaries and categories’ (Moffet, 2006, pg 141).
This study highlights how the construction of certain genders as the ‘other’ or as
‘inferior’ can legitimise certain types of behaviour and practices. Whilst this study primarily focuses upon how the historical roots of South Africa have contributed towards these
constructions there are also other social processes which impact upon this. Lwambo (2011) explored the increases in cases of domestic violence within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following several humanitarian interventions which focused upon empowering women, economically, medically and educationally. The author conducted several in-depth interviews with community members, both men and women, in order to understand how these interventions were understood by men and women and how they had impacted gender relations.
The findings of Lwambo found that the empowerment of women had undermined traditional hierarchies within DRC which had led to become emasculated. Women had been granted greater economic opportunities and during a civil war, few men could perform their traditional roles as income providers. In the DRC context, the author found that the practice of domestic violence was not seen as a desired masculine characteristic, but the ability to control one’ s family and provide financial support was. As men were unable o provide for their families due to the social and economic destruction caused but the long civil war, men began to lose the respect of their families. In addition, the increased empowerment of women threatened their hierarchical position even more which encouraged men to use domestic violence as form of control over their families.
Interestingly, Lwambo discovered that even women expected their men to be able to perform traditional masculine roles. Despite women gaining grater access to economic income and employment, women continued to expect men to be the primary income providers and when this failed, women did not view their men as ‘men’. Thus, the author argues that this dramatic societal change increased tensions and competition between men and women which impacted upon the practice of domestic violence. This study highlights how understandings of gender roles control behaviour and when this behaviour is not performed or is threatened it can cause tension and even result in increased violence. This is an important aspect within this research project as it suggests that gender roles have a
significant impact upon the behaviour of men and women as well as the ‘expected; behaviour of men and women. When this is not performed accordingly or is threatened it could increase hostility and tension in gender relations. Nevertheless, the study conducted by Lwambo suggests that the construction of gender has a significant impact upon how individuals behave and how they expect other to behave within society. In addition, it creates hierarchies and roles which need to be achieved. In addition, it highlights the importance of both men and women within the construction of gender as both men and women a central to the creation and maintenance of these expected behaviours.
24
A final central study which highlights how understandings of gender impact upon gender relations is the study by Starmann, et al. (2016). In general, the study investigated how prevention strategies against domestic violence within Uganda had impacted towards gender relations within relationships. Amongst other aims, the study highlighted how prevention interventions against domestic violence could benefit from encouraging
relationship skills between couples. The study focused on understanding the key constructs which impact upon the equality of relationship, including relationship equality,
communication, self- regulation, shared commitments towards investment and power. The study used these understandings of ‘quality relationship skills’ to determine what steps could be taken to encourage these types of behaviours within relationship to discourage the event of domestic violence. However, in consideration to this research project an important aspect the study highlighted was the impact that gender roles have in determine behaviour which in turn effects the quality of the relationship.
The study consisted of conducting several semi-structured interviews between couples in order to gain an insight on how their relationship had changed during the course of the intervention. Starman et al (2016) argued that gender roles which grant men unchallenged hegemony within Uganda can also be playing a role in domestic violence. The researchers suggest that men’s traditional roles may be under threat or be undermined by recent societal and economic changes within the society which increase the likelihood of domestic violence.
However, it could also be suggested that if gender roles can be understood as influencing behaviour, this may also have a significant impact upon the behaviour which men and women perform within relationships. The research concluded that ‘through enhanced awareness of relationship values and gender roles, some participants began reflecting on their own and their partner’s role and how greater mutual support could result in better outcomes for their family (Starman et al, 2016, pp 8).
The study concluded that promoting more effective and equal relationship skills improved the dynamics between men and women which contributed towards the prevention of domestic violence. However, as the study also highlighted the part which gender roles played in impacting relationship dynamic it would be important to explore how and which gender roles effected these gender relations. In general, as gender roles are understood as effecting the behaviour of men and women and impacting how they relate to one another in a relationship context, it would be vital to understand exactly which gender roles impact upon both the experience and practice of domestic violence. In addition, understanding how these gender roles impact upon this issue would contribute towards knowledge on which types of roles need to be challenged to encourage more co-operative and harmonious behaviour between men and women.
This chapter has presented wider literature concerning this research project in order to place the research agenda and research questions in to perspective. Currently, top to bottom theoretical understandings can be used to explain the development approaches which have been taken by major IGO’s. These revolve around altering the economic, political and educational opportunities of women by primarily implementing new legal structures or dissolving discriminatory laws within countries. However, this chapter has also presented the opposing arguments which are embedded within the bottom up approaches. These approaches claim that a top down approach does not necessarily eliminate the discriminatory social constructions which exist at the bottom levels of the community. These are seen as primarily
25
important in having created issue of gender inequality in the first place which is why they need to be explored and challenged.
This research project will further contribute towards these arguments and challenges the top down approaches which are implemented by IGO’s by investigating the impact socially constructed aspects of gender have on gender inequality. By exploring how socially understood gender roles influence issues of domestic violence, this research will contribute knowledge on the importance of understanding social contexts of gender and the bottom levels of societies and the necessity to tackle these understandings in order to eliminate the wider problem of gender inequality.
The next chapter will explore the theoretical approaches which exist within gender inequality discourse. These different theoretical approaches will be presented and discussed in order to justify the use of the social constructivist approach within this thesis.
26