Third World Women's Health
  Main Page

  Health Issues

  Effects of the West

  Take Action

  Interviews

Third World Women

What is Third World?

Third world countries are most often defined by political or economic differences. Countries that are poorer than some threshold are Third World countries, while countries above the threshold are First World countries. The Third World is made up of countries often characterized by poverty, high birthrates, and dependence on more advanced countries¹. The economies of Third World countries are dedicated to developing raw materials and products for more developed countries.¹ This can make it difficult for countries to become self-sufficient, because their economies are set up to meet other countries' needs.

Other terms used to describe Third World countries are: developing countries, less developed countries, non-industrialized, non-Western, the Global South.

What are some problems with these terms?

The First World/Third World dichotomy has been troubled. Some people feel that this distinction (along with the developing/developed or less developed/more developed) implies that Third World countries should aspire to be more like First World countries. Instead of trying to be more like First World countries, less developed countries should try to maintain their unique culture. Likewise, non-Western and non-industrialized define these countries entirely in terms of First World or Western expectations.

The Global South is a newer term created to more accurately describe the countries often included as Third World, with a term not based in economic comparisons. This term is newly emerging, and has not yet become as widely used as Third World or developing countries.

Another problem is that grouping all women in Third World countries together under one name ignores the many differences amongst women living in Third World countries. Although the queen and the peasant woman may both be women living in the same Third World country, they may not agree about which problems are most serious for third world women. The differences in their social class, racial, and economic status also have a significant effect on their outlook on their worlds. Ignoring these differences glosses over the complexities of the category Third World Women. As many of the health professionals interviewed made clear, it is not possible to say that all Third World Women are the same.

Why did I choose Third World?

Naming this population is important, so as not to gloss over the differences between First and Third World women, or between men and women in the Third World. As you will read, Third World Women have some particular health needs that must be considered in the economic, political, and social contexts of their lives.

If we choose to name Third World women as a group, we want to understand the experiences they share. To understand the common experiences of Third World women it is important to look at the meaning given to the experience. Chandra Talpade Mohanty, a scholar who writes about Third World Women, uses an example of wearing veils in Muslim countries.² In some instances, women are forced to wear veils because of their religion. In other times, women have chosen to put on veils to unite with other women against unfair practices in a workplace. Grouping all of these women who wear veils ignores the meaning given to wearing veils within these two very different contexts. Since these women give different meanings to wearing a veil, it is not possible to say "women in Muslim countries are oppressed because they wear veils". It is not the practice of wearing veils, but the meaning given to wearing veils that can be oppressive.

According to Mohanty, women should be grouped according to the meaning they give their common experiences. It is the meaning of their experience that makes them similar to others, not necessarily the experience itself. Looking for the meaning given to these experiences can help us understand the non-Western cultural contexts of the experience.

References:

1. Third World Traveler. (date unknown). Third World: Definitions and Descriptions.
   Retrieved January 17, 2001 from the World Wide Web:
   http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/General/ThirdWorld_def.html
2. Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. (1991). Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses. In Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Ann Russo, & Lourdes Torres (Eds.). Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Dawn Haney, January 2001
Last Modified: 1/17/2001                           
Contact: Dawn Haney haneydaw@arches.uga.edu