Section 2 | FOUNDATIONAL FACTORS Applying a political economy lens, it is furthermore apparent that public perception of the gendered status quo as normative has become politicized and therefore highly sensitive. Because gender equality is a cultural narrative that has been embraced by the military government of Myanmar and the women-focused GONGOs it founded,84 questioning it confronts secular as well as religious authorities85 in ways that are deeply uncomfortable for many. Although the lack of sex-disaggregated, reliable nationwide data on key international development measures (e.g., labor force participation by sector) for the past several decades complicated efforts by independent researchers to scrutinize the accepted narrative,86 rich ethnographic material, efforts of dedicated CSOs and INGOs, and the first nationwide census in decades (conducted with UN support in 2014) have eased that task. This section sketches gender norms relevant to the gender digital divide. As elsewhere around the world, important nuances related to gender-based roles and expectations are tied to culturally specific distinctions between public/private spheres and access to and control of resources and decision making. “In rural areas, young girls don’t have a voice in their families or public space.” —Rural CSO representative PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPHERES In Myanmar as elsewhere, gender norms reflect an idealized division of labor that assigns to men and women different productive roles (work for “capital,” i.e., cash or goods/services) and reproductive roles (unpaid work for “human capital,” i.e., childbearing and rearing, cooking, cleaning). This division affects individuals’ agency and opportunities, particularly their time available to acquire new skills and assets. Significantly, a time-burden assessment conducted in ten rural Inn-Thar villages near Inle Lake in Shan State revealed that, on average, men and women spent roughly the same amount of time on productive activities Ibid., 20; Harriden, Authority of Influence, chapter 8. Harriden, Authority of Influence. See chapter 1 for a discussion of gender norms and spiritual values in Myanmar history. 86 GEN, Raising the Curtain; JICA, Country Gender Profile: Myanmar. 84 85 Ending the Gender Digital Divide in Myanmar: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Assessment | 30