Petroleum Feeds Patriarchy (new study released)

[lanlady]

Source: Washington Post

Climate change. Pollution. Financial expense.

Our gas-guzzling ways have long been associated with a variety of problems, but disturbing evidence now points to a new dimension of our love affair with petroleum: Oil consumption and high oil prices hurt the political, social and economic development of millions of women in oil-producing nations.

You read that right. The more gas you pump and the higher oil prices get, the more likely you are to harm women's empowerment.

The surprising finding, based on more than four decades of data from 169 countries, provides a novel explanation of why women in Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates still do not have the right to vote. Oil wealth, not Islam, is the primary reason that these nations have regressive gender policies, said political scientist Michael Ross at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/09/AR2008030901762.html

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Fascinating study and makes a lot of sense when you consider that the emancipation (in the political sense) of women in the Western world began with their taking jobs in 19th- and early 20-th century factories and sweatshops.

[yardwork]

1. That is fascinating - especially the last couple of paragraphs.

When women lack job opportunities, they focus on increasing their odds of marrying. That makes them more likely to support fundamentalist religious precepts.

It's not just oil. Anything that reduces opportunities for women to get jobs causes this. In the United States right now, we're outsourcing many jobs traditionally held by women. Perhaps it's no surprise that the country as a whole has become more conservative.