Part of my job this summer is to
work with the gender team at Save the Children USA on technical support. When I
had my introduction to the topic, the Sr. Technical Advisor was explaining how gender
norms create an unequal balance of power between women and men in
Ethiopia. Verbal messages (poems, sayings, proverbs) can impact the society in a negative (or positive) way that
encourage/discourage gender inequality and risky sexual behaviors that can lead
to HIV transmission.
Here are a couple of my favorite Ethiopian proverbs and what the
cultural assumptions are (as explained by the advisor):
- “A woman is born just to please a man” – This proverb assumes that women cannot say no to men…meaning women have less power in relationships than men.
- “A lady is good when staying at home and a flame is strong in the oven” –promotes isolating women and limiting their access to information and health services.
- “Both a girl and a masero (the smallest pot) can serve their purpose despite their size” - promotes cross generational relationships.
- “A woman and a phone booth both work with a coin” - assumes that if someone gives a woman money, the woman will do whatever is asked of her or it assumes that the only way to have a sexual relationship with a woman is to give her money.
- “It is difficult to quit sex as much as avoiding urinating” - assumes that men cannot control their sexual desires.
As you can tell, gender equality plays an important
role in ensuring safe-sex practices. Going through these proverbs and
understanding the cultural background and norms in Ethiopia has already been a
learning process. It’s not something that can be changed overnight like educating
populations on the importance of the use of condoms or handing out vouchers for free clinic visits
and medication. As an M&E person, I
questioned how one can measure a change in norms? The old beliefs still exist and will exist for a long time. Looks like
I’ve got my hands full :)
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