The Tortoise or the Hare? Long-Term Continuity vs. Rapid Shifts in Gender Equality

Undoubtedly, women’s relative position has been improving almost globally in recent decades.  But how can we predict fast vs. slow shifts in most places or the possibility of a dizzying descent into inequality in a few others?  Examining recent changes and historical patterns through the lens of my theories of gender stratification and gender and development, I suggest that we examine structural variables, the bedrock of gender stratification: women’s relative economic power (defined as control of income/other assets – my theories’ key variable) and the kin-property system.  Historically, women have done best where they control income and the kinship system is bilateral or matri-oriented (so that women inherit and marital residence often is with/near the bride’s female kin). This pattern prevails in most of Southeast Asia – and largely so even in Indonesia despite ~700 years of Islam.  Regionally, women’s economic autonomy and overall position long have outshone most of Europe and proved better than in almost all world areas where inheritance goes wholly/disproportionately to men and the bridal couple lives with/near the groom’s male relatives.  This includes 75% of sub-Saharan ethnic groups, almost all the Middle East/North Africa, and most of South Asia (Kerala State, India is the strongest exception).  A common phenomenon in these patri-oriented countries is that women lack effective land rights, even if laws have been passed giving them theoretical rights (e.g., India).  A sudden burst to full gender equality seems unlikely even in Scandinavia but a steep ideologically-propelled slide could happen in conflict countries where women lack economic power and the kin-property system is highly unfavorable, e.g., a repeat of what happened in Afghanistan under the Taliban.  Overall, however, women’s rising economic power should prove more consequential in driving gender equality than changing social norms and growing proportions of females in parliaments and schools.