The Status of Women in the Americas

Abstract

Aspects of the status of women that are of concern to geographers include spatial variation in status, the relationship between fertility and female status, and the role of women in national development programs. Maps of the Americas, using indicators from the political and legal, economic and social spheres have been prepared and analyzed. They have also been compared with a map of the Physical Quality of Life Index to determine whether female status better correlates with this broad measure of well-being than with traditional measures of economic development. There does appear to be a geography of the status of women. As a whole, Latin America is intermediate between those countries where demographic indicators show a high status of women (United States, Canada, most European countries) and those where the status of women is generally low (Asia and Africa, especially Islamic countries). Within Latin America, however, there are striking regional contrasts in female status.