Cross-cultural features of women's place in society
Wikan, U.
Genus 46(3-4): 1-16
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0016-6987 PMID: 12343330 DOI: 10.2307/29789029Document Number: 377543
Current methods of measuring the status of women rely on macro-level statistics which do not convey the true situation that many women live in. This method attempts to force a standardized measuring system upon a non-standardized set of variables. Each culture has unique features in terms of the status of women and micro-level observations of the ongoing lives of women must be included in order to get an accurate assessment of their status. In order to determine what solutions are necessary, the problems must be determined; however, each society provides a different set of problems. These unique problems escape conventional methods of measuring women's status. 3 diverse cultures are used to illustrate the important of this idea. Egypt, Oman, and Bali all have cultures that give women high or low status in different aspects of their societies. Experiences like birth, procreation, and the general struggle of living are all different to each culture. Critically examining a culture from the point of view of its women, listening to how they describe it, is necessary in determining their status. Methodologies must be employed that allow researchers to access this critical point of view in order to properly determine the status of women in any given culture.