Forming five groups, participants took 20 cards, on which names of various “to do” or “to be” items were printed such as teacher, doctor, cook, pilot, shop for groceries, get pregnant, etc.  In groups of 8-10 they sorted these into things mainly done in their community by men, women, or about equally done by either and lined them up in three columns.  A few children formed a group and used only 15 cards.

In the second round the groups looked at the columns and asked the question, which of the items in the W or M column could go into the B column - that is even though a given thing was done mainly by one or the other, could it be done by both?  If there were items that they felt could only be done by M or by W, those cards remained face-up in their respective columns. If both could do it, the group turned the card face down.

The Gender Footprint seeks to gauge an ambient condition of inequality within which individuals make particular choices. It does not measure an individual’s degree of inequality or bias in a single specific choice.

Some had it in M and some in W. [This was not included in Group 3].

Worldwide 18% depend on methods used by men - male sterilization or condom.  In India, 15% depend on methods used by men.

Aravinda shared her experience speaking with women in villages of Srikakulam District about contraception and fertility awareness.  Most women were unaware of their own fertility cycle. Within the group at the conference session most people were unaware that women’s fertility  is cyclical and can be predicted.  This awareness could influence a woman’s sense of self esteem, and reproductive choices.  In Srikakulam area villages, a typical woman never got an opportunity to choose a contraceptive method.  She would be expected to marry, have 1-2 children without giving thought to delay or spacing, and then be sterilized.  Most women were sterilized by the age of 25 -30.  They said that they lived with chronic back pain which they associated with the “operation” (sterilization).

In the US a reference book “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” has popularized the fertility awareness as part of a wider movement for women’s control over personal health and life choices.  Fertility awareness is compatible with other contraceptive methods and can help women and couples make a more informed choice.  For example, non-hormonal methods, which have few / no side-effects, might be more practical if they did not need to be used at all times.

In Srikakulam villages, the ASHA Health worker is supposed to have condoms available. However when we talked with them they said that there was no demand for them and they were associated only with AIDS prevention and not with contraception.   While talking about fertility awareness however several women including the Health workers said this knowledge may create demand for condoms at least for spacing purposes.  Women opined that newlyweds could benefit from this to delay the first child, esp if the woman was educated (read: married right out of high school) and wanted to work or study for some time after marriage.

We find that gender gap in contraceptive use is not limited to rural India, but is equally prevalent in urban India or for that matter the US.  [In the US 65% depend on methods used by women and 27% on methods used by men. Source: Guttmacher Institute].

We have the stories.  I think it would be worthwhile for chapters to engage in a similar exercise of collecting and sharing stories. If it would help to break the ice we could perhaps share the stories from last year by engaging in a dialogue with the chapter volunteers.  Often people bury their own experiences of gender violence because the pain is too hard to deal with, there is no one to tell, believe etc.   Last year also several people at the conference said that reading the stories on the clothesline recalled some incident that had happened to them that they just did not even think about when reading the pre-conference calls to join the discussion on bias/violence against women.  So we can use the stories to facilitate this process in other chapters.

What is the goal of this exercise, apart from personal awareness and healing?  When we recognize that this kind of bias and violence is happening right in our own community, to people like us and maybe even to us, it will help us collectively to recognize and understand hardships other women face, including in rural and poor communities.   Problems in overcoming these do not simply stem from poverty or illiteracy.  Instead they stem from everything that contributes to our gender footprint - bias, inequality, stereotype, harassment, violence.  Are these connected?