The perspectives of gender roles differ across cultures and nations. The social-cultural environment has a significant influence on a society’s perception of gender roles. The role of women, in particular, varies across different cultural and national dimensions. The United States and Cameroon represent two diverse structures with both similar and varying perspectives on the role of women.
Similarities in Women’s Roles in the two Nations
In both the United States and Cameroon, women are often associated with domestic roles such as cooking and taking care of the laundry. Women are viewed as homemakers, and their primary roles are centralized in the context of family care. In the United States, for instance, women perform most of the household chores despite having other occupational demands (Best, & Bush, 2016). Similarly, women in Cameroon are primarily tasked with household chores such as washing laundry and caring for their family.
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Also, in both nations, the number of female-headed households has been on the rise in the last decade. The increase in literacy levels and westernization in Cameroon has increased the number of households headed by women. According to research, more than 25.5% of all households in Cameroon are headed by women (Tchombe, 2017). This trend is not new in the United States, where most women raise families on their own.
Differences in Women’s Roles in the two Nations
There are some striking differences in the role of women across the two nations. First, women participation in politics is still limited in Cameroon despite efforts to empower women. The number of women in political and administrative positions remains relatively low compared to that of men. Studies indicate that women representation in these positions is about a third of the total representations (Tchombe, 2017). In the United States, women are more involved in politics, and they are adequately represented in the political arena (O’Brien, & Piscopo, 2018). Women have made significant milestones in politics which indicates their empowerment.
Secondly, women in Cameroon are less economically empowered than their equivalents in the United States. The number of women who engage in economically productive activities is much less than that of men. This can be attributed to the cultural notion that the primary role of women is caring for the family while men provide. Also, girls in Cameroon are less likely to get formal education compared to the boys (Tchombe, 2017). Education is an essential factor that promotes social-economic empowerment. In the United States, women are more involved in economic activities. Both girls and boys are given equal opportunities to get formal education which equips them with technical skills required in the job market.
References
Best, D. L., & Bush, C. D. (2016). Gender roles in childhood and adolescence. Childhood and Adolescence: Cross-cultural Perspectives and Applications, 2nd edn. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-CLIO, 209-239.
O’Brien, D. Z., & Piscopo, J. M. (2018). Electing women to national legislatures. In Measuring Women’s Political Empowerment across the Globe (pp. 139-163). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Tchombe, T. M. S. (2017). Psychosocial Perspectives of Cameroonian Women. In Women's Evolving Lives (pp. 117-140). Springer, Cham.
