ABSTRACT
‘Economics’ is a powerful term. It has the power to intimidate, to alienate, and to imply to large numbers of people, especially women, a huge body of knowledge which people can never comprehend. The economy institutionalizes and sustains the value system of the society of which it is a part. Each society makes certain assumptions about human nature and creates an economy based on those assumptions. A look at some of the diverse methods societies use to distribute their ‘surplus’ illustrates the variety of answers that societies have come up with. In creating their own classifications for women’s experiences in different cultures, the authors have developed the following criteria to gauge women’s status: valuation of women’s fertility and physical integrity, women’s access to and control over crucial resources, including property, paid and collective labor, training and education, and women’s networks.
