ABSTRACT
The assumptions that development planners make about women in society are almost never stated, but are all the more powerful for that reason. It is thought ‘natural’ that a woman’s place is in the home and that she has a very specific set of tasks which are thought to be universal because they are based on the biological imperatives of sex. The most important role for women, defining their entire life, is portrayed as the bearing and bringing-up of children. A man, on the other hand, is seen as the ‘natural’ head of the family, its representative in the outside world, and therefore the person with whom planners will deal. Since it is assumed that men control families (‘the master in his own home’), any new resources intended for everyone should logically be channelled through them.
