The Impact of Tourism in the Reduction of Gender Inequality

Özet

Abstract In this study, the role tourism sector on gender equality will be further investigated in order to propose a reliable solution for the ongoing debate on the relationship between gender inequality and tourism sector. The paper will start with a body of literature on the impact of tourism sector on gender equality based on the previous studies. The methodology will be literature review and critical evaluation of the findings. Finally, the study will conclude the fact that tourism sector has a capacity to provide significantly higher amount of specific benefits for women and therefore positively contribute to the establishment of gender equality. The manuscript will investigate the positive contribution of tourism sector on the well-beings of women in three different aspects. First, the economic conditions of women prone to increase in the presence of tourism sector corresponding to new opportunities of employment as well as creating revenues for public spending, specifically to finance the social policies for women. Secondly, tourism sector enables social interaction among people from different cultural backgrounds and provide an opportunity for women in a particular destination to observe which cultural rights other women have in other countries and open the eyes of local women for the rights that they can obtain. And third, psychological well-being of women which is measured by Quality of Life (QoL) is likely to increase as they take part in the economic activities and social life. The paper will also suggest a model in order to provide a quantitative analysis for the gender inequality, including the possible related economic and social variables. Key Words: Tourism, Gender, Inequality Introduction Gender inequality is one of the major problems of today’s world. Although there are some significant changes in recent years, gender inequality remains as a significant problem, particularly in terms of economic aspects (Blau, 2016). There is still a big debate on whether tourism sector increase the burden on women by expropriating them further or it is beneficial for women employment and gender equality. Some scholars claim that the challenges inherent in gender mainstreaming processes by public policies worldwide are replicated and even exacerbated in the tourism sector (Ferguson & Alarcón, 2015) whereas studies conducted by other scholars depict that tourism is capable of providing specific advantages for women and has a mitigating impact on gender inequality especially in the areas where tourism employment is available (Khatiwada & Silva, 2015). Nevertheless, the gender research are claimed to remain limited within the tourism enquiry despite three decades of study and the recent increase in investigations (Figueroa-Domecq et. al., 2015). Not even surprisingly, the gender discrimination in the field of tourism is not only limited to the women who are employed in the tourism sector, but rather the discrimination even reflects on the scientific investigation, and studies conducted by women scholars in order to complain how tourism research maintain the invisibility of women in academic field (Munar et. al., 2015). Some scholars argue that the recent paradigm in the policies regarding to development in tourism should be reconsidered to increase the potential of tourism to a maximum level so that women can be empowered and other steps can be taken to promote gender equality (Ferguson, 2011). Mere presence of tourism will not provide equality by itself, as there are many social and cultural barriers that women need to overcome. Therefore, an understanding that increases the prosperity of women in financial, social and psychological senses is required, not only in the academic field but also in the policies of local and national level of governments. Hıstorical Development of Gender Inequality Since the earlier times of human-being, the distinction between two sexes has been showing its impact on all aspects of social, economic, political, cultural and artistic life. Although each society has its own traditions and cultural codes in terms of gender norms, the general tendency of societies was to “evolve” into patriarchal communities where the role of women have been diminished to private space or house, the definition of women has been made related to family whereas men enjoy their individual lives, independent decisions, and opportunities to engage in social realm. One of the main reasons that has historically widened the gap between men and women is the position of women within the family, as they generally diminish the opportunities for participation into the labor force, and eventually this lack of participation leads to economic dependency of women to the breadwinner (male) of the family, hence reinforcing the gender inequality in the family (Donchin, 2010). Nevertheless, gender inequality is not one homogenous phenomenon that can be reduced into one aspect such as economic or social, but rather there are many facets of the problem which are diverse and interlinked at the same time (Sen, 2001). For this reason, while gender equality is taken into consideration within the scientific inquiry, the conceptualization shows difference from one study to another. Some scholars focused on economic aspects of inequality whereas some others focus on social properties, such as access to education and health (Arora, 2012). The principal interest of this paper will be economic inequality between women and men based on current social and economic structure, and financial well-being will be assessed through wage differentiation and availability of employment for women. However, the impact of tourism will not be limited to economic gains, since social integration of women also increases as tourism industry provides them an opportunity to get into social life and meet new cultures. Therefore, social aspects of gender inequality will be included to the conceptualization of inequality of this study. B