Social Engineering in the Empowerment of Craftswomen: A Gender Analysis

Abstract

Women who work in home industries are an essential subject in local cultural crafts sustainability. The Women in Development approach gives women plenty of room to develop their capacity. Although various government programs have been carried out to improve women and their families welfare, they have not explicitly focused on women, primarily crafters in the home industry. The aims of this study were to 1) identify home industries (micro-scale) that produce local cultural crafts managed by craftswomen; 2) understand the position of women in the home industry from the division of labor and decision making on resources and the factors affecting it; 3) find practical gender needs in productive activities and aspects that contribute to reconstructing perceptions of fulfillment; and 4) identifying a gender mainstreaming government policy regarding craftswomen and social engineering to achieve gender equality. This study applies a gender perspective approach and theory. It involves the Participatory Action Research method in Gunung Mulya and Situ Daun Villages, Tenjolaya District, Bogor Regency, West Java Province. Interviews used a questionnaire to 50 bamboo craftswomen industry workers. The results show that women spend more on reproductive roles. Women also appear to have access to resources but have little control over them. District governments can optimize their function in gender mainstreaming in programs by accommodating practical gender needs to preserve local wisdom, especially in providing business capital. Perceptions of the suitable needs of gender come from respondents with low educational backgrounds, from primary school and junior high school, and their access to social media.

Keywords: craftswomen, home industry, development, gender needs.