Gender equality is an important part of social equality

1. Genderequalityisanimportantpartof social equality Sofia Branco LawFaculty LisbonUniversity 15th May 2013

2. Second citizenship of women • Used to be (in some places, still is) sanctioned by the law, which can be a powerful instrument of submission • 1. In the public arena: • 1.1. Concept of citizenship is male in origin • 1.2. Men had the exclusive of speaking • 1.3. Exclusion from political participation and military action • 1.4. Disadvantages in what relates to property and the rights of inheritance

3. Second citizenship of women 2. Atwork: 2.1. Lesspaid for thesamework 2.2. Domesticunpaidwork 2.3. Pregnancyandmaternity 2.4. Obstaclesinaccess to leadingpositions 3. Inthefamily: 3.1. Preference for a boy 3.2. Notallowed to decide when to marryorhaveloveand sexual relations 3.3. Customarylaws 3.4. Domesticviolence

4. Second citizenship of women 4. Towardsthebody: 4.1. Birthcontrol 4.2. Abortion 4.3. Prostitution 4.4. Pornographyandadvertising

5. Jurisprudence • Prevailence of formal equality (all equal under the law) • Substantive equality requires thinking about the results of equal treatment and applying differentiated treatment when needed (e.g. affirmative action) - still an exception • Mostly on employment and work • Indirect discrimination is difficult to penalize

6. Cases • Dekker Case: discrimination of pregant women is always direct, since only women get pregnant; not justifiable by any reason, even if the employee proves to have financial problems • Rummler Case: equal work – equal pay • Kalanke, Marschall, Badeck, Abrahamsson Cases: affirmative action

7. Women - Representations • Bodies are the reflex of social and cultural stereotypesandpatterns • Long path of discrimination: submission and subordination • Women have been treated as the others, the outsiders, the different (from the norm, dominated by men). Difference would not be a problem if it had not resulted in exclusion and inequality.

8. Women - Representations • Womenhaveexistedonbehalfofothersandnot as individuals • If single: saint(non-sexual figure) orwhore (not sexually controlled) • Sexual object: for decorativepurposes, for the appreciation of men • Passive sexuality (delicacy, virginity and fidelity are praised) • Medicine/Science (hysterical, ninfomaniac, mad, less capable brain)

9. Women - Representations • Confinedto theprivateplaces: women do housework, men go to the pub • Social responsibility of caring for children, the elderly, the disabled • Professionally identified with assistance and not qualification nor proficiency functions (e.g. general pictures of doctors or judges are rarely from women, although the number of women working in those areas have increased considerably).

10. Stereotypes • Comes fromtheGreekword ‘stereos’ – solidimpression. • Firstreferedinmoderndiscourseby Walter Lippmann, in 1922, regardingworksaboutpublicopinion. • Women are more bodythan soul, more soul thanmind. • Women shall always be beautiful and young - whether in men age is wisdom and respect, for women it means old and neglect. • AbsencefromHistory (exceptwhensymbols, as saintsorqueens)

11. Personalities – in public • Eveninthese cases, women are subjected to stereotypes. • Beautifulfirstladies • Princesses • Rachida Dati – who’sthefather?

12. Media Role • Mirror ofsociety. • Perpetuate and reinforce stereotypes, when they could contribute to its elimination. • Exclusion of women from public spaces and places where they speak with authority. • Invisibility of women in matters of importance.

13. Who makes the news? • Global Media Monitoring Project – Who makes the news? • Since 1995, eachfiveyears. • Global research on gender issues in the media. • 2010: analysis of about 18 000 pieces of news. • CoordinatedbyWorld Alliance for Christian Communication(WACC). • http://www.whomakesthenews.org

14. Who makes the news – results 2010 • Paradox: few women in the news, but many in journalism. • Over 70% of TV presenters until the age of 34 are women. Percentage drops to less than 10% between 50 and 64 years. • 46 percent of stories reinforce gender stereotypes.

15. Who talks about hard news? • Men speak more about politics and economics - but there has been some changes. • Men are the experts, the authorities on the subject.

16. Who is heard in the news? • Overwhelming majority of protagonists are men (76%). • 24% of people portrayed in the news are women (15% in 1995). • When women are protagonists of the news, they usually mirror the stereotypes (victims, voxpopuli).

17. Results for Portugal • Only recently a gender analysis perspective has been included in media studies. • The overall presence of women in the Portuguese news was 23%, only 1% below the overall number. • Women appeared as sources of information only in 18% of cases. They are mostly heard as common people. • Only 16% of women are heard as experts and 14% as spokespersons. • 75% of the witnesses and 63% of victims are women.

18. Results for Portugal • News about science and health are the most prominent on portraying women as protagonists or sources. • Compared to 2005, 14% increase in the visibility of women's presence in “politics and government" - 24% in 2010, above the global average (18%). • Increase may at least partially be linked to the effect of the Parity Act, which entered into force in 2006.

19. Results for Portugal • Although still below men, women started to give more opinions in the press (44%). • On the day of monitoring there was no news on equality issues. • Very little news (8%) had women as the central focus.

20. Media patterns on gender equality • Unequal visibility of women. • Subtle ways of stereotyping. • No major differences between 2005 and 2010. • Most areas remain critically unbalanced.

21. Video and Debate • Il Corpo delleDonne: http://www.ilcorpodelledonne.net/?page_id=91