Women and Literacy: Promises and Constraints

Abstract

In almost every country, illiteracy rates are higher among women than among men. This gender disparity can be explained in terms of (1) the sexual division of labor that assigns women many domestic tasks, especially, among poor and rural families, time-consuming chores, and (2) men's control of women's sexuality, which creates both physical and psychological constraints in women's lives. Research has identified various benefits of literacy for women, such as better maternal behaviors regarding child health and child rearing, and effective family planning. Although women could use literacy to increase their access to new knowledge, most literacy programs do not encourage this because their curricula are still designed along sexually stereotyped lines that emphasize women's roles as mothers and household managers. This article argues that these messages do not convey emancipatory knowledge and may solidify values and attitudes that cause women to accept current gender relations rather than to question them.

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References

1. There are some exceptions in the pattern of women's composing the majority of illiterates. These are usually small countries characterized by heavy male out-migration, such as Lesotho, or a preponderance of female heads of households, such as Jamaica and a few other Caribbean islands.

2. Wife beating is a widespread social practice. Formal studies of its incidence in the United States have declared it the single greatest source of injury to women. Wife beating in certain developing countries, such as Papua New Guinea, affects as much as two-thirds of the adult women.

3. See, for instance, Kathleen Rockhill , “Literacy as Threat/Desire: Theorizing Women's Oppression” (Paper delivered at the Comparative and International Education Society, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Mar. 1986).

4. Robert LeVine , “Women's Schooling, Patterns of Fertility, and Child Survival,” Educational Researcher, Dec. 1987, p. 23.

5. See ibid., pp. 21-27, for an extensive reference to the research literature supporting this claim.

6. Susan Cochrane , “Education and Fertility: An Expanded Examination of the Evidence,” in Women's Education in the Third World: Comparative Perspectives, ed. Gail Kelly and Carolyn Elliott (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1982), pp. 311-330.

7. Robert LeVine , “Influences of Women's Schooling on Maternal Behavior in the Third World,” in Women's Education in the Third World, ed. Kelly and Elliot , pp. 283-310. This study, conducted by Barbara Lloyd and associates, focused on Yoruba women; it also found that educated mothers tended to discourage aggression less, to practice less the postpartum taboo of their society, and to engage in shorter periods of breast-feeding than the illiterate, traditional mothers. These findings suggest that not all behaviors associated with literacy are positive.

8. Swarna Jayaweera , “Women and Literacy: The Sri Lanka Experience” (Paper delivered at the “Symposium on Women and Literacy: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” Hasselby Slott, Sweden, 8-10 June 1989).

9. Francoise Caillods , “Women's Literacy for Development: A Brief Overview of the Situation Today” (Paper delivered at the “Symposium on Women and Literacy”).

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10. World Bank , Sub-Saharan Africa: From Crisis to Sustainable Growth (Washington, DC: World Bank, 1989), p. 60.

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11. Anita Dighe , “Programmes with Focus on Women's Involvement: The Case of India,” in Issues in Planning and Implementing National Literacy Programs, ed. G. Carron and A. Bordia (Paris: International Institute for Educational Planning, 1985), pp. 141-158.

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12. Ila Patel , “Policy and Practice of Adult Education for Women in India, 1970-1984” (Paper delivered at the Sixth World Congress of Comparative Education, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 6-10 July 1987).

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13. Samora Gaborone , “Gender and Literacy: The Case of Botswana” (Paper delivered at the “Symposium on Women and Literacy”).

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14. Aikael Kweka , “Women in Literacy Programs and Underdevelopment: The Case of Tanzania” (Paper delivered at the “Symposium on Women and Literacy”).

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15. Thomas Eisemon and Andrew Nyamete , “School Literacy and Agricultural Modernization in Kenya,” Comparative Education Review, 34(2):161-176 (1990).

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16. Elaine Draper , “Women's Work and Development in Latin America, Studies in Comparative International Development, 20(1):3-30 (Spring 1985).

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17. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization , 1990: International Literacy Year, Information Document, June 1989 (Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, 1989).