جامعه شناسی کاربردی (Aug 2013)
Changes in Attitude towards Gender Inequality in the
Abstract
Introduction Gender inequality stems from social factors in each society. In theories of gender inequality, it has been assumed that family role in reproduction of gender inequality is of crucial importance (Bourdieu 2001, Chaftez 1999, dyson 2001). Demographic transition is one of the factors in the structure of family changes in recent century. Demographic transition is applied to changes from high levels of mortality and fertility to low levels (Lucas & meyer 2002). Demographic transition has some stages. In each stage, the population has special structure according to demographic characteristics such as decreasing family size, decreasing kinship relations, increasing women education, the more participation of women in work force and their higher independence. The education and employment of women leads to changes in power structure and marriage patterns. So, the institution of family differs in various countries according to different stages of demographic transition. This article is about the role of demographic transition in change in attitude towards gender inequality. Material & Methods Research sample includes 50 countries that are listed in World Value Survey for the year 2005. The demographic data has been prepared from population bureau of United Nations and gender inequality data has been used from World Value Survey, using cluster analysis for examining the above countries in terms of demographic transition. Research theoretical model is tested according to structural equation modeling and Amos software. Discussion of Results & Conclusions The results of the study show that attitudes towards gender inequality are different in countries according to different stages of demographic transition. In Some counties such as Mali, India, Iraq, and Zambia, which are in primary stages of the first demographic transition, there is less negative attitude towards gender inequality. But countries which are in the second stage of their demographic transition, such as Sweden, Finland, France, United State, England, Russia and France, there is more negative attitude towards gender inequality. Countries such as Turkey, Brazil, South Africa, and Indonesia, which recently moved from the first stage of demographic transition to the next, are somehow between the two mentioned groups. The coefficient correlation between demographic transition index and attitude towards gender inequality is 0.58. Also, R Square is 0.34. It means that 34 percent of variance of attitude towards gender inequality is explained by demographic transition. The above relationship is not witnessed for countries such as Iran, Malaysia and Egypt. For these countries have gone through different stages of demographic transition, and they have less negative attitude towards gender inequality. Therefore, it can be said that changes of family structure by demographic transition differ according to social and cultural structure. In the present study, the demographic transition index is supposed to be an objective structure, leading to changes in gender inequality. These changes can be studied at two levels. At family level, family structure basically changes in the process of demographic transition. And these changes affect, in one way or another, child and gender sociability. At society level, demographic transition provides an opportunity for women to make themselves powerful and to try to earn different capitals, whereby decreasing the gender inequality gap. In conclusion, it can be said that the role of demographic variables should be considered in explaining changes of attitudes towards gender inequality.
