for more subjects and were more successful than girls in co-educational schools.
Despite the worry of the alienation of boys, many of whom tend to truant or not to
achieve at the expected levels, and despite the undeniable academic success of girls, the
author stresses that there are still problems as far as girls are concerned. One is that of
the high teenage pregnancy rate. The other is the self-image which girls develop despite
their success in school, resulting in sex-stereotyped choices of courses and jobs. There
is moreover clear gender differentiation in the work force: the majority of women are in
lower status and lower paid jobs. (See also Hamilton, M. and Leo-Rhynie, E., 1984)
Pacific islands - General
Vanuatu
TONGAMOA, Taiamoni (Ed.) (1988) Pacific Women: roles and status of women in
Pacific Societies, University of the South Pacific, Fiji.
This small book (104pp) is useful as an introduction to the present-day situation of
women in the South Pacific and offers chapters on Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the
Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. Studies represent the personal views of women
who have grown up in the islands. Each chapter follows the same pattern: first there is a
general introduction to the role & status of women in the particular island group which
covers such aspects as traditional custom, legal status, employment, education &
politics, etc. This is followed by four case studies and then a discussion of the findings.
The women chosen for the case studies represent a range of experience: urban & rural,
literate and illiterate, employed and unemployed, living a traditional life-style or
working as a trained professional.
Tongamoa, in her Overview (Chapter 6), points out that such is the cultural diversity
among the various Pacific societies, that it is impossible to generalise very far about the
cultural patterns, practices & activities relating to women. In the past, the seemingly
unfair division of labour and the relatively low status of women were not points of
complaint:
"The islanders were not conscious of any competition between men and
women, because they perceived their ascribed and traditional roles and
responsibilities as being divinely sanctioned & unchangeable, to be
carried out for the benefit of everybody in the family and the
community", (p89).
Since contact with Western culture however, the established co-existence of females
and males in traditional Pacific societies has become a point of controversy. The
unequal division of labour in particular has been questioned by educated women. Some