I believe that culture, beliefs and practices in any social setting combine to form strong fingerposts along the road of what a “good person” does, and does NOT do especially in matters of sex, childbearing and childrearing. In short, there are societal expectations that often are narrow and do not permit much deviation. Since people do not like to be spoken or thought ill by others, they “go along” with these expectations.
Yet, with increasing awareness and education about which birth control methods are most effective, we see society can and does change. We see evidence that a “good girl” can also be a “smart girl.” For example, in a country where the women are empowered to understand their bodies, they are making the right decisions. For example in Costa Rica, the percentage of women using contraceptives is 96%. (p.43). In my country, Guatemala is lagging behind with only 43% (p. 43), using contraceptives. I believe that is due to its roots and culture steeped in Catholicism. This explains why the rhythm method was the only “Pope approved” birth control method. The Catholic Church has in times past also presented the idea of abstinence within the marriage. Sexual intercourse was only for procreation, so granting papal permission to use the rhythm method was a huge concession. Especially when the core ideology was that anything that interferes with life coming into the world, even a condom, was a sin.
Then there is a practical dimension to why Guatemala lags behind Costa Rica, Guatemala is a poor country. It lacks the funds to do any long term effective outreach to bring new ideas, information and contraceptives to where “the people” actually live and work. Most Guatemalan woman that I observed are entirely too busy with keeping their family’s “body & soul” together to even have the energy or time to go beyond the local village beliefs in search of contraceptive “truth”.
Looking at my own family and my upbringing in Guatemala, everything that had to do with sex was a big “shame-shame”, and was only discussed within the context of abstinence. With such ignorance thriving, it was little wonder why all new brides were also “honeymoon pregnant.”
Any sexual activity outside marriage, even incest or rape was so taboo to discuss, that it simply wasn’t. Superstition, old wives tales and such flourish for lack of knowledge. That is why I believe that the solution is going to involve a grassroots approach of going into communities, bringing the tools, information and using a model of “train the trainer” so this movement can be self-propagating, until critical mass is reached and the culture shifts to accept new beliefs.
Reference:
Childinfo (2008). Monitoring the situation of women and children (p. 43). Retrieved from http://www.childinfo.org/files/progress_for_children_maternalmortality.pdf
Yet, with increasing awareness and education about which birth control methods are most effective, we see society can and does change. We see evidence that a “good girl” can also be a “smart girl.” For example, in a country where the women are empowered to understand their bodies, they are making the right decisions. For example in Costa Rica, the percentage of women using contraceptives is 96%. (p.43). In my country, Guatemala is lagging behind with only 43% (p. 43), using contraceptives. I believe that is due to its roots and culture steeped in Catholicism. This explains why the rhythm method was the only “Pope approved” birth control method. The Catholic Church has in times past also presented the idea of abstinence within the marriage. Sexual intercourse was only for procreation, so granting papal permission to use the rhythm method was a huge concession. Especially when the core ideology was that anything that interferes with life coming into the world, even a condom, was a sin.
Then there is a practical dimension to why Guatemala lags behind Costa Rica, Guatemala is a poor country. It lacks the funds to do any long term effective outreach to bring new ideas, information and contraceptives to where “the people” actually live and work. Most Guatemalan woman that I observed are entirely too busy with keeping their family’s “body & soul” together to even have the energy or time to go beyond the local village beliefs in search of contraceptive “truth”.
Looking at my own family and my upbringing in Guatemala, everything that had to do with sex was a big “shame-shame”, and was only discussed within the context of abstinence. With such ignorance thriving, it was little wonder why all new brides were also “honeymoon pregnant.”
Any sexual activity outside marriage, even incest or rape was so taboo to discuss, that it simply wasn’t. Superstition, old wives tales and such flourish for lack of knowledge. That is why I believe that the solution is going to involve a grassroots approach of going into communities, bringing the tools, information and using a model of “train the trainer” so this movement can be self-propagating, until critical mass is reached and the culture shifts to accept new beliefs.
Reference:
Childinfo (2008). Monitoring the situation of women and children (p. 43). Retrieved from http://www.childinfo.org/files/progress_for_children_maternalmortality.pdf
Nora,
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! It seems forming this grass-roots movement to educate the women of Guatemala on contraceptives will be very difficult but well worth while. Unfortunately figures of power, especially those of religion, have a strong hold over their followers and their views are hard to influence or change. Best of luck to you and anyone who may take on the task you described!