Women comprise over half the planet’s human population and allow for its existence and propagation, so it is suspicious that their experiences are often unnoticed, especially considering their crucial roles in globalization and colonialism. This can be explained, however, when one looks at what counts as actual, valuable work and why this is. Upon closer examination, one can also come to an understanding of women’s experiences.
According to the current capitalist system, only that which passes through the market and directly adds to the GDP counts as work, whether it is negative or positive, legal or illegal. It should be noted that high GDP does not translate to a high standard of living for the population since the cost of living may be equally high and, in fact, the poverty rate has increased even as global GDP has increased. Ergo, disasters, accidents, sexual exploitation, drugs, and war are all considered beneficial through the lens of the capitalist system. This is because it allows the market to grow, and the nature of capitalism is that it must constantly grow to avoid inflation, high unemployment, etc. In contrast, “nice” things such as peace, beauty, environmental preservation, subsistence production, and leisure are considered useless and undesirable, that is, unless profit could be made from them. Most importantly, household production such as childcare, food preparation, collecting firewood and water, subsistence farming, reproductive labor, and domestic chores are devalued and unpaid, that is, they are practically invisible to the international United Nations National System of Accounts, even though those non-primary forms of production are essential for the health of society and the economy. People who are in that type of work are considered “unoccupied”, according to Marilyn Waring’s film Who’s Counting? (whereas creating nuclear missiles is a valued occupation). This affects women disproportionately in that 75% of household work is done by women (without pay, benefits, or compensation) and also means that half the world’s population is excluded. It is evident in this that there is also a global and local patriarchal factor involved, one of domination and chauvinism. As Adriana Mata Greenwood articulates, “It is generally accepted that inequality between men and women stems from attitudes, prejudices, assumptions concerning the different roles assigned to men and women in society” (1999:28). In addition, it is those with power who largely determine the perspectives of the populace, and these perspectives, in turn, serve the interests of the dominant groups and allow them to stay in power. This is one of the keys to globalization and colonization.
Concerning the experiences of women, less than one percent of property is owned by women, one in five women are physically and/or sexually abused (which is normalized and even higher in areas of conflict), women earn two-thirds of men’s salaries despite doing two-thirds of its work, and only seventeen percent of national leaders and government representatives are women. Colonized women such as Acephie in Farmer’s article are often forced into the market and are at high risk for HIV/AIDs as many are cornered into doing sexual favors (2003).
Regarding women and colonialism, in pre-colonial Africa, women possessed mother-rights, held many privileges as inheritance was often matrilineal, had political and religious power. With the advent of colonialism, those privileges and rights were eliminated and the division of labor between the sexes was disrupted. As the men were forced to find employment in the cities, the women were left with the burden of carrying out every task necessary for the survival of themselves and their families. Also, as the money sector was male-dominated and considered modern, the women’s work of providing the basic necessities of life were considered “backwards” and ultimately devalued (Rodney 1982:118).
Moreover, women were sometimes portrayed as pure and nurturing, other times as villainous, some as good mothers, others as bad mothers, they were depicted as needing protection from their savage men and thus an excuse for colonization, and their sexuality, gender, and bodies were controlled in terms of who they could have relations with in order to both regulate bloodlines and maintain a hierarchical social order, whilst the white men were free to cross the boundaries and sexually colonize the women, whose children were left with the women, allowing the men to have full control over wealth and inheritance while the women were chained down (Pettman 1996:148).
This is how and why women are invisible despite their roles being crucial to globalization and colonization, which continues to the present. The patriarchal ideas are ingrained in the collective consciousness and subconsciousness of ordinary people to such a degree that it is all too often overlooked and viewed as “natural”, when in reality it is simply oppression. It is imperative, therefore, to expand the concept of work and to redefine value in order to restore the basic dignities of women and all people.
References
Greenwood, Mata. 1999. “Gender Issues in Labor Statistics.” Pp. 28 in Beyond Borders, edited by Paula S. Rothenberg. New York: Worth Publishers.
Pettman, Jan Jindy. 1996. “Women, Colonisation, and Racism.” Pp. 148, 437 in Beyond Borders, edited by Paula S. Rothenberg. New York: Worth Publishers.
Rodney, Walter. 1982. “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa.” Pp. 111, 118 in Beyond Borders, edited by Paula S. Rothenberg. New York: Worth Publishers.
Waring, Marilyn. 1995. Who’s Counting? [Video]. National Film Board of Canada.
