A Framework of Dimensions of Women's Status

After studying the platforms of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies and the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, social scientist Janet Giele created the following framework of dimensions of women's status all over the world. It is intended as a guide for investigations into the position of women "within and across societies"(Moghadam, 9). We have included this framework because we feel that it voices well the concerns which rise out of feminist movements all over the world.

  • Political Expression:What rights do women posess, formally and otherwise? Can they own property in their own right? Can they express any dissatisfaction within their own political and social movements?

  • Work and Mobility:How do women fare in the formal labor force? How mobile are they, how well are they paid, how are their jobs ranked, and what leisure do they get?

  • Family: Formation, duration, and size: What is the age of marriage? Do women choose their own partnerts? Can they divorce them? What is the status of single women and widow? Do women have freedom of movement?

  • Education:What access do women have, how much can they attain, and is the curriculum the same for them as for men?

  • Health and Sexual Control:What is women's mortality, to what particular illnesses and stresses (physical and mental) are they exposed, and what control so they have over their own fertility?

  • Cultural Expression:What images of women and their "place" are prevelent, and how far do these reflect or determine reality? What can women do in the cultural field?

    This work was taken from "Introduction: The Status of Women in Comparative Perspective." by Janet Z. Giele.

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