[ExI] Women

[F. C. Moulton]

On 12/28/2012 09:16 AM, spike wrote:

>   From the point of view of the
> equilibrium society, any scheme we could introduce to raise the status of
> their women is an example of accelerating wildly in a random direction.
> 

This is one reason why I keep saying we need a deep understanding of the
society in question.  And we need to remember that lesser developed
societies are not all the same.  Remember also that some of these
societies have seen other outside solutions that have failed and caused
problems such as a putting in cash crops in place of the diversified
sustainable agriculture and then when the world price drops they have a
problem feeding themselves until they can revert back to the traditional
crops.  Thus outside intrusion might be viewed with suspicion.

Another factor to consider when meddling in some other culture is to
understand what the individuals consider as giving meaning and status to
themselves.  For example I have read that in many societies with
arranged marriages it is the older women who spend a lot of time
considering the perfect matching and this is a major source of their
feeling of self-esteem and contributing to what they see as the strength
of the society.  If we outsiders come in and say we want women to marry
for love and not by arranged marriages then we should not be surprised
if there is opposition to the outside intrusion from women because all
they see is that the role that they would have as they get older is now
gone.

Also please be very careful about this idea of making a computer that
can only used by girls and women.  The phenomena of considering anything
related to women as "women's work" and thus of less value needs to be
considered.  If computers and related aspects of technology and a modern
market economy are viewed with disdain by men who might be more in
control of the overall society then we may inadvertently be hindering
the modernization process that we want to encourage.   Ideally the
adoption of literacy and computer skills will be taking place in a
context in which they are increasing valued otherwise the project might
just fizzle out.

And remember how sad it is when we see someone running around with a
solution that they are so in love with but can not find a problem to
which it applies?  I am suggesting that we be careful about advocating
solutions to problems we do not fully understand.  That is why deeper
understanding is needed and why small pilot projects can provide useful
feedback for identifying potential pitfalls and as a way to develop a
more robust understanding of the society.  And let us not forget that
societies are dynamic with communications starting to reach almost
globally so what was a correct analysis at one time might not be valid
today or tomorrow.

I should not need to make the following comment but past history on this
list indicates that it is likely necessary.  It is possible that someone
has their hands poised over their keyboard ready to type something like
"What do you mean, do nothing?" or a similar sentiment.  Please do not
do that since it would be obviously false, it would make you look like
an idiot and it would piss me off.

Fred

-- 
F. C. Moulton
moulton at moulton.com