REFERENCESMitchell, M. (2007). No Laughing Matter. Granville Island Publishing. Retrieved from: http://! antigonemagazine.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/no-laughing-matter-margaret-mitchells-! memoir-2/9
Internship Failure Report: Gender Equality and The Use of AgencyBy: Remy BargoutAbstract - This is an opinion piece that recounts the gender based experiences and perspectives of anundergraduate student participating in a six month CIDA funded internship in South India. The author hadbeen living and working with three other interns in a rural mountainous area of Tamil Nadu. The internscollaborated with a well-known local NGO working in the sector of rural agricultural development. Theyexperienced a foreseeable number of obstacles in their work as researchers in a foreign place, and had tocross a number of barriers. Some of these challenges were gender related and, for the writer, it wasfound that gender barriers were the most precarious ones to cross. Actually, from the perspective thatthe writer of this article was the only male intern. He found himself in awkward situations, not knowingwhat to do, caught between the need for cultural sensitivity and the simple requirement of commonhuman decency and respect towards people. In this case, the simple requirement that the hostorganization offer the same amount respect to the other interns as they did to him, for the sole andunfortunate reason that he was a white male.INTRODUCTIONIn the fall of 2013, I was part of a CIDA funded internship in South India for six months. I livedand worked with three other interns in the city of Chennai. The program was organized by Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute (SICI) and funded by CIDA’s 2013-<strong>2014</strong> International Youth Internship Program. Wecollaborated with a well-known local NGO working on rural agricultural development, M.S. SwaminathanResearch Foundation (MSSRF). We experienced a foreseeable number of obstacles in our work asresearchers, and we crossed a number of these barriers. Many of these challenges were gender related.Personally, I found that gender barriers were the most precarious ones to cross. For me, the reason wasbecause I was the only male intern. I found myself in awkward situations, not knowing what to do. Iexperienced how the host organization respected me more than the other interns, simply for being amale. Working in a country with an abundant supply of patriarchal baggage, I found it challenging to bethe only male intern.PATRIARCHY AND THE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT REGIMEChristine Lagarde, the first woman to be the finance minister of a G8 country and the firstwoman to head the International Monetary fund, was interviewed about her professional experiences asa woman. She asserted that women make better leaders than men in crisis situations. She attributes thisto the differences that exist between masculine and feminine styles of leadership, citing studies thatdemonstrate how certain traits are more predominant among women, such as listening skills, the abilityto form consensus, and attention to risk. While men are often more willing to take risks, women seembetter at evaluating the viability of risk and managing the outcomes (Ignatius, 2013). Was Lagarde sayingthat women are better suited than men for international development work? Whether or not this is true, itis one of many difficult questions to address when discussing gender and international development.Do patriarchal structures exclude women from having a role within the international developmentregime? They certainly do (Chowdry, 2003; De Beauvoir, 1949; Hirsham, 2003). However, we have madeprogress towards breaking down these structures: towards emphasizing the important role women playin the development process at the grassroots and the institutional level. Focusing on the institutionallevel, it would be disheartening and incorrect to say we have made no progress whatsoever (Kabeer,1994; Karl, 1995; Rathgeber, 1990; Stuadt, 2002). Certainly, though, there is vast room for improvement.Consider that it was only four years ago the United Nations General Assembly finally created an entitydedicated solely to gender equality and the empowerment of women (UN Women, 2011). This is a greatstep forward but it does not guarantee gender equality, or effectively dismantle patriarchal structures.10
- Page 7 and 8: How The World Learned to Name Viole
- Page 9: " Working to reduce violence is nev
- Page 15 and 16: REFERENCESBillet, S. (2006). Relati
- Page 17 and 18: Follow The MoneyBy: Karen Takacs" L
- Page 19 and 20: no easy answers here, but shouldn
- Page 21 and 22: However, the first and most importa
- Page 23: HIV Prevention Through Empowerment:
- Page 27 and 28: ownership of land for housing (Ibid
- Page 29 and 30: REFERENCESBharat, Shalini, Bidhubhu
- Page 31 and 32: In addition, there is research requ
- Page 33 and 34: " Survey results indicate a high le
- Page 35 and 36: 361). It is also important to note
- Page 37 and 38: SexLife Expectancy atBirthAdult Lit
- Page 39 and 40: REFERENCESAfrican National Congress
- Page 41 and 42: APPENDIX A:Figure A1: The indicator
- Page 43 and 44: Reproductive Justice, Gender and In
- Page 45 and 46: REFERENCESClare, E. (1999). Exile a
- Page 47 and 48: women find themselves, and help the
- Page 49 and 50: lending, it is not unreasonable to
- Page 51 and 52: poverty than men, they may be less
- Page 53 and 54: are helpful, they are not effective
- Page 55 and 56: Canada’s Changing Priorities (200
- Page 57 and 58: contribute to women’s reproductiv
- Page 59 and 60: Feminism is For Everybody, Except W
- Page 61 and 62:
addition to the uncertainty of mark
- Page 63 and 64:
In development discourse especially
- Page 65 and 66:
REFERENCESBeaman, L., Chattopadhyay
- Page 67 and 68:
to embrace a more holistic self, on
- Page 69 and 70:
One moment which exemplifies this i
- Page 71 and 72:
REFERENCESCoston, B. M. and Kimmel,
- Page 73 and 74:
earning an income showed me some of
- Page 75 and 76:
Biographical SketchesRemy N. Bargou
- Page 77 and 78:
international development organizat