...Financial Crisis: Assessing Vulnerability for Women and Children, Identifying Policy Responses Mayra Buvinic World Bank February 2009 The current global financial crisis, on top of recent food price increases (which, while down from their peak last year continue to affect the poor in developing countries), will have serious gender specific consequences for women in poor countries and their children. While women (and men) in most developing countries are vulnerable to increased risk of poverty and hardship, exposure to gender-specific negative impacts are particularly high in a subset of countries. These are countries where pre-existing high infant mortality rates and/or low rates of female schooling, combined with decelerating growth rates, substantially raise the vulnerability of women and girls to the deleterious effects of the crisis. Their situation is even more precarious in the sub-set of countries where limited fiscal resources constrain governments’ ability to cushion human impacts. If left unchecked, these crisis consequences on women will reverse progress in gender equality and women’s empowerment (and in meeting the MDGs), increase current poverty and imperil future development. Fortunately, policy responses which build on women’s roles as economic agents and their preference for investing resources in child well-being can go a long way towards mitigating these negative effects. These responses are good for women and for development– they yield high returns...
Words: 1801 - Pages: 8
...all of these forms of entertainment seem to be harmless outlets of creativity. Yet these very forms of media affect women all over the world and tell them what they should physically look like to be deemed as beautiful in society. One may not believe that the media is up to such a terrible act, but subconsciously women believe what the media portrays as beautiful. Today’s pop culture demonstrates the impact of self-image and the effect it has on society and the way the society should look. Ads and pop culture enforce a negative outlook on the body image, which affects young women throughout the society. There are many aspects of today’s society that effect women within this pop culture and the way they have started to look at their bodies and see themselves as below average because they are not measuring up to the standards of society. In all reality, media and advertisement must know the effects it has on the young women and their body image in the world, but choose to ignore the fact because of the success that has sky rocketed in the past years. Not many people can ignore the media and find themselves beautiful no matter what features they have, but the ones who do such things are confident and strong while growing up in this tough and harsh world. Ads within television, magazines, newspapers, etc. all have some direct correlation to the media having an effect on the body image of young teens. These ads show beautiful models with long skinny legs, blonde hair, and blue eyes...
Words: 2275 - Pages: 10
...phenomenon. During the 1950s and 60s, the emphasis on women was on their reproductive roles as mothers and homemakers. This approach was based on Western stereotypes of the nuclear family in which women are economically dependent on the male breadwinners. In the early 1970s, researchers began to focus on the division of labor based on sex, and the impact of development and modernization strategies on women. The WID (Women in Development) concept came into use in this period. The philosophy underlying this approach is that women are lagging behind in society and the gap between men and women can be bridged by remedial measures within the existing structures. The WID approach started to recognize women as direct actors of social, political, cultural and working life. Therese Blancher mentioned gender disparity of Bengali society as: The birth of a boy is always greeted with joy. The birth of a girl is welcome when it is a first child (the first fruit which announces the fertility of the plant), or when there are already boys and no girl in a family. Otherwise, it is often received with resentment. Boys represent wealth, but girls are seen as a cumbersome responsibility. They are born to be given in marriage. This will require a dowry and impoverish the family most prefer a large number of sons. The reverse situation is a source of resentment and anguish (1996: 50). Both man and women works for the society but especially women all over the world perform multiple roles in productive...
Words: 6409 - Pages: 26
...phenomenon. During the 1950s and 60s, the emphasis on women was on their reproductive roles as mothers and homemakers. This approach was based on Western stereotypes of the nuclear family in which women are economically dependent on the male breadwinners. In the early 1970s, researchers began to focus on the division of labor based on sex, and the impact of development and modernization strategies on women. The WID (Women in Development) concept came into use in this period. The philosophy underlying this approach is that women are lagging behind in society and the gap between men and women can be bridged by remedial measures within the existing structures. The WID approach started to recognize women as direct actors of social, political, cultural and working life. Therese Blancher mentioned gender disparity of Bengali society as: The birth of a boy is always greeted with joy. The birth of a girl is welcome when it is a first child (the first fruit which announces the fertility of the plant), or when there are already boys and no girl in a family. Otherwise, it is often received with resentment. Boys represent wealth, but girls are seen as a cumbersome responsibility. They are born to be given in marriage. This will require a dowry and impoverish the family most prefer a large number of sons. The reverse situation is a source of resentment and anguish (1996: 50). Both man and women works for the society but especially women all over the world perform multiple roles in productive...
Words: 6409 - Pages: 26
...Afghani women as they face a landscape dominated by discrimination and riddled with adversity. Prior to the great cultural and political upheaval that was the Aghanistam civil war and subsequent arrival of the Taliban, women enjoyed many freedoms in society similar to those found in western society today. Women were able to walk unescorted down the streets of Kabul, dress freely, wear makeup, and even smoke. In addition, "50% of the students and 60% of the teachers at Kabul University were women, and 70% of school teachers, 50% of civilian government workers, 40% of doctors in Kabul were women." (Feminist Majority Foundation) as soon as the militaristic Taliban came into power however,...
Words: 980 - Pages: 4
...others. At the most judgmental time of their lives, teenage girls in the United States struggle to accept themselves while craving the approval of others. As young women strive to reach perfection, the view on women today may influence their dedication for a perfect body. While society shames bigger women for their weight, degrading thoughts begin to take-over the minds of developing teens. Studies show that negative psychological thoughts of oneself often result in eating disorders among teenage girls in the United States; these degrading thoughts can come from clothing companies, the media, and society’s view on women. First, clothing companies can have a big impact on the view that...
Words: 1159 - Pages: 5
...The Effects of Sexism in “Boys and Girls.” The world is a place where everyone calls “home” but is it really considered a home when sexism exists everyday? When someone thinks about home, it is a place where a person can do anything without being judged or told what to do. Everyone is a human being but why is it that sexism gets to decide what a person's role is? In society, people are “labelled” to do specific tasks because of their gender. Sexism is the main social issue that should not restrict what a gender can or cannot do. There are three main effects of sexism that restricts what a gender can do or cannot do and the three effects are sexism in the work force, roles of the household, and how males and females are portrayed as. Firstly,...
Words: 1352 - Pages: 6
...a way for abusing a women and women abuse should not be necessary. Is also comes under child abuse and I want to tell people that child abuse and women abuse is wrong and FGM has no valid reason to be done. People are unaware of the how painful this act is and they are unaware of the side effect a women have to go through their whole life. Every day at least 200 million girls get cut in Africa. Female Genital mutilation is violation of human rights. What is FGM? FGM stands for Female genital mutilation and is the cutting of the women sexual organs another name for FGM is female circumcision. FGM is not a medical process and is not done for any medical...
Words: 832 - Pages: 4
...Harassment: The effects of “eve teasing” on development in Bangladesh The Hunger Project • 5 Union Square West • New York, NY 10003 • www.thp.org Imagine for a moment that you are an eleven year old girl in Bangladesh. After helping your mother cook and serve breakfast, you are preparing for school. You should be excited. You like learning and school provides a reprieve from the drudgery of household chores. But you are not excited. Instead, you are filled with dread. That is because every day, on the long walk from your house to school, you are surrounded and teased by a group of boys. The boys yell indecent things at you. They laugh. They push, pinch, and grab at you. Sometimes they pull at your clothes so violently that you are afraid they will be ripped right off of your body. By the time you get to school, your face is hot with humiliation and your eyes sting with the fear that you will have to go through the whole thing again on the walk home. *** The Insidious Everyday Reality Sexual harassment, often known as “eve teasing”, is a regular occurrence for the women and girls of Bangladesh. A recent study by the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA) showed that almost 90 percent of girls aged 10-18 have undergone the experience. The harassment can take a variety of forms and the perpetrators come from multiple walks of life; they are rich and poor, educated and uneducated; according to the BNWLA study, teenage boys, rickshaw pullers, bus drivers...
Words: 2229 - Pages: 9
...Sexualization of Girls and Women in the United States: A Growing Epidemic Kayla Johnson Chamberlain College of Nursing Sexualization of Girls and Women in the United States: A Growing Epidemic Brittany, a freshman in High School arrives at her home after school and turns on the T.V to watch MTV music videos. She watches the T.V. as half naked girls dance in the background of male singers. She picks up her phone to get on Instagram where she scrolls through images of famous women like Rhianna and Kim Kardashian who post scantily clad images of their bodies. Brittany thinks to herself, “I wish that I looked like these girls, maybe if I looked more like them the boys at school would like me more”. Brittany’s mother gets home from work and puts dinner on the dining room table. Brittany sits down and eats only a portion of her meal because in the back of her mind she is still feeling as though her own body is inadequate, she could probably lose more weight and if only she had bigger boobs and longer legs, maybe then she would feel better about herself. She lies in bed that night and wishes that she had a better body so that she could feel beautiful and happy. If only she knew that thousands of other girls were feeling the same way, maybe she would realize that the issue isn’t her own body- the issue is the cultural emphasis on female sexualization that has become a norm in our society. Unfortunately girls all over the world are struggling with self-confidence related to...
Words: 3132 - Pages: 13
...million girls and women has gone through FGM worldwide. Also, in the majority of the cases, girls that are under age of fifteen...
Words: 1159 - Pages: 5
...Women the Look Are Your Health Tyrus Woods Everest College In today’s world growing up almost every girl has visions and dreams of becoming a super model. Them wanting to be skinny and beautiful like the models they see on the TV set with shows like American Next Top Model and in magazines. This aspiration often becomes a fascination and girls begin to see this as being a needed distinguishing characteristic. Most teenage years for girl are spent trying to get a curtain look and their adult years are spent trying different diets and are exercises trying to acquire this look. This look is the thin super model look. This fixation of their look and weight has led to an increasing number of females with eating disorders. Eating disorders in women can have many causes but one main cause is the fixation to be thin and beautiful. Low self-esteem in the way they look mixed with uncontrollable exercising plays a big put in it. TV, internet, and magazines display the message that being thin is beautiful. Most little girls, teen age girls, and women have the yearning to look like actresses from shows like American Next Top Model and magazines like Vogue. Now the physical abuse to their bodies start because of a negative comment about their looks or which can lead to an eating disorder. Eating disorder is a severe problem. Body shape, weight, fat, food, and perfectionism and by feelings of powerlessness and low self-esteem are characters of eating disorders says Personal Counseling...
Words: 965 - Pages: 4
...The Media’s Effect on Women’s Body Image Women and young girls are obsessively trying to alter their appearance just to look like the perfect body images we see in movies and magazines. What is body image? Body image is how people picture themselves and how they think other people picture them. It is basically how you feel about your body, and it includes your imagination, emotions, and perception. Images portrayed by the media tend to make people strive to be someone else's idea of perfect, while ignoring their own goals. The media influences us through television, health magazines, fashion, music videos, film, commercials, and various other advertisements. Sadly, as a result, this frequent exposure, the "thin" ideal, can lead many young girls in triggering depression, stress, low self-esteem, and suicide. The media's ideal body image has led to wide-ranging effects including, surgical procedures, body dissatisfaction, and clinical eating disorders. In “Body Image of Women” by Tabitha Farrar, she points out that the “thin-ideal media” concept highlights thinness as a desirable thing to be even if it comes to the point of damaging a person’s health. Farrar indicated that marketers will do anything that they can to sell a product and make a profit. She also mentioned that poor body image can lead to depression, anxiety, problems in relationships, unhappiness, and various health problems. Farrar suggested that people can focus on their good qualities, work with self-esteem...
Words: 896 - Pages: 4
...John Updike’s descriptive excerpt, A&P illustrates the effect on, how three girls dressed in bathing suits catches the attention and affects customers and works in a small-town grocery store. Three girls walk in A&P capturing everyone’s attention especially the men’s. This excerpt illustrates the strong effect women can have on men, how the effect can be broken and how this effect can change one’s view on life. Updike demonstrates how women have a strong effect on men, by having Sammy describe how his male co-workers gawking over the girls. As soon as the girls entered A&P they had the everyone’s full attention. Well at least every guy. Sammy describes how the girls caught his eye, “The one caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece.” He continues to describe her as well as the other girl’s bathing suits, figures, skin tones and a few other features. As you notice the first attribute that caught his eye about the girls were the fact that they were in bathing suits. He explains how all the other guys are gawking including his co-worker Stokesie. “Oh Daddy,” Stokesie said beside me. “I feel so faint.” Sammy doesn’t forget to mention how another worker sized the girls up after their encounter with him. The girls have a powerful effect on the men in the store causing them...
Words: 570 - Pages: 3
...ADM NO; BOBIT/LMR/1575/16 LECTURER; DR. J. NDAVULA DATE; DECEMBER 1,2015 Abstract Reasons for early marriages The main reasons girls are forced to marry early are for the parents to acquire wealth and to be respected in the community (Ondiwo, 2002). Within the Maasai community the male spouses are likely to be a few years older than the girls; some may be more than twice their age, and most of them are wealthy. Parents who make such marital choices look upon marriage as an economic arrangement. Within the Kuria community the tradition is practiced because of interests in acquiring wealth. There are rampant cattle rustling incidences in the area because of poverty. Some parents find it safe to marry off their daughters to compensate for their stolen herd since early marriages are done in exchange for livestock The poverty stricken families also see early marriage as a way to take off their shoulders the responsibility of bringing up girls (Hinshelwood, 2001; Jens, 2003; UNICEF, 2000; UNICEF, 2002). In the event that the parents of the girl child have been given some money or material wealth and the girl has refused to join her husband to be, men from her husband’s side will abduct her. During abduction, the girl will be beaten to make her submissive. If she cries out aloud, her mouth will be closed forcefully. Some of the girls who have been abducted have ended up dying during the struggle (Ondiwo, 2002). Early marriage problem can be caused by disobeying our parents...
Words: 1229 - Pages: 5
