GENDERPresentation prepared for PDG in Social Work

Presented by: Anjam SinghSanjeev Dahal

August, 2010

Sex and Gender

• Sex refers to the biological differences between men and women

• Gender refers to the socially constructed roles and responsibilities of women and men in a given culture or location

SEX AND GENDER DISTINCTIONS

Biological Universal Born With Generally

Unchanging Male/Female

Exercise

Socially constructed roles, responsibilities & behaviors

Culture Specific Learned Behaviour Varies within and

between Cultures Masculine/Feminine

SEX GENDER

Sex Roles and Gender Roles

Sex Roles The only roles related to sex are those

associated with reproduction- male and female contribute to the transfer of genetic material. Further, women give birth and breastfeed.

Gender Roles Activities assigned to individuals on the

basis of socially determined characteristics, such as stereotypes, ideologies, values, attitudes, beliefs, and practices.

Gender construction in society Construction of gender through gestures,

behaviours and symbolic ideologies Gender roles: Ruth Hartley (1966) Manipulation Canalization Verbal Appellation Activity exposure

Gender Relations

Gender relations are relations of dominance and subordination with elements of co-operation, force and violence sustaining them.

Gender relations are socially constructed and hence, variable in time and place and amenable to change.

Gender relations follow the rules of patriarchy- an ideology and social system whereby men are considered superior to women

History of gender construction Religion differentiates sexes Hindu Religion: Prakriti and Purus Christianity: Adam and Eve It is difficult to point out a specific period in

time when segregation of gender roles started

Traditionally there was no differentiation of work: hunting, fishing, gathering

Agricultural period: women held high; miracle of reproduction, matrilineal societies

With risktaking nature and physical strength, men began to conquer individuals and groups

With the advent of privatization, the first thing to be privatized were women: control of women’s mobility, behaviour and access

Gender roles and relations became more distinct and hierarchal

Gender roles/relations in social institutions

All societies follow gender based social values and identities; maintained from social institutions and their mechanisms.

Family and Community: matriarchal and patriarchal Lerner (1986) “The family not merely mirrors the order in the state and

educates its children to follow it, it also creates and constantly reinforces that order”.

Marx and Engels believe that women represent the proletariat class within the family and men gain power making women dependent.

MarriageEncyclopedia of Social Science (1973) describes marriage as “ a culturally approved

relationship of one man and one woman (monogamy)or one man and two or more women (polygyny) or one women and two or more men (polyandry) in which there is cultural endorsement for sexual intercourse between the married partners of opposite sex with the expectation of children from that relationship”

“Maare paap pale punya”“bacha datta twaya kanya putratha swikrita maya” Daughter in law still ranks the lowest position in her married home (Bista, 1992)

Caste and KinCollins dictionary states caste is a “ social stratification which involves a

system of hierarchically ranked, closed, endogamous strata the membership of which is ascribed and between which contact is restricted and mobility theoretically impossible”

Caste system does not classify women- they are given the caste of the men they are associated with: anuloma & pratiloma

Structure of kinship: Matriarchal or patriarchal Market and StateInvisibility of women’s work

Exploitation of female labour- paid less as compared to male counterparts

Nature of jobs: Male doctor, engineer; Female: nurse, caretaker

Cash flow in the hands of males (70% in agriculture) [Agarwal, 1994]

Global scenarioOf the world’s one billion poorest people, three-fifths are

women and girls.

Of the 960 million adults in the world who cannot read, two-thirds are women.

Seventy percent of the 130 million children who are out of school are girls.

With notable exceptions, such as Rwanda and the Nordic countries, women are conspicuously absent from parliaments, making up, on average, only 16 percent of parliamentarians

worldwide.Women everywhere typically earn less than men, both because they are concentrated in low-paying jobs and

because they earn less for the same work.

Systematic sexual violence against women has characterized almost all recent armed conflicts and is used as a tool of terror and ‘ethnic cleansing’.In sub-Saharan Africa, 57 percent of those living with HIV are women, and young women aged 15-24 are at least three times more likely to be infected than men of the same age.

Each year, half a million women die and 18 million more suffer chronic disability

Although women spend about 70 percent of their unpaid time caring for family members, that contribution to the global economy remains invisible.

Up to half of all adult women have experienced violence at the hands of their intimate partners.

NLSS –Gender Review

Gender review of the Nepal Living Standard Survey (NLSS)

Pdf file..

Gender as a development issue In the areas of reproduction, production and

community, women have been adversely affected by the development process.

Wide gap between high yet unrecognized economic participation and their low political and social power

Development strategies have taken the needs of the most vocal and politically active

Reproductive, productive and social roles played by women must be looked as well as the economic and social roles played by men

WID, WAD & GADWID WAD GAD

Origin Early 1970sPost WW II phenomenaTerm articulated by American Liberal Feminists

Mid 70s as a critique of modernization theory and WID

In the 1980s

Theoretical base

Linked with Modernization Theory-Targets individuals as the catalyst for social change, no structural change

Dependency theory

Socialist Feminist thinking

Approach Seeks to integrate women into the development process

Seeks to involve women as active participants of development

Seeks to empower women and transform unequal relations between women and men

Focus Women Women Men

WID WAD GAD

The problem

Exclusion of women from the mainstream development process

Women have always been part of development process but their contribution not recognized , development had negative impact on women

Unequal relations of power that prevent equitable development and women’s full participation

Strategies

Equality before law, education, increase women’s productivity and income, increase women’s ability to manage their households

Women focused development, women as economic actors in both public and private domain

Analysis of women’s contribution inside and outside household, looks at total social structure

Critique Accepted existing social structureDid not question source of women’s oppression and subordinationTreated women as homogeneous category

Focus only on women’s productive aspect ignoring the reproductive aspect Doesn’t question the relations between gender roles

Gender equality, equity and mainstreaming

Gender equality is defined as the absence of discrimination, on the basis of a person’s sex, in opportunities and the allocation of resources or benefits or in access to services.

The concept of gender equality has evolved over time: initially, gender equality was concerned with treating everyone the same. Treating everybody the same, however, perpetuates existing inequalities. By acknowledging and addressing different needs, interests and values, health services and professional can work to overcome these inequalities and arrive at equitable outcomes.

Equity is generally regarded as a state of fairness and justness. It requires that the specific needs of particular groups are considered separately and acted upon accordingly

Gender equity recognizes that the playing field is not even due to social and historical disadvantages which prevent one sex, often women, to access and benefit from society's resources

NeedsPower

Life experiencesAccess to decision

makingExpectations from

othersSocial, economic and political opportunities

WomenMen

The concept recognizes that women and men have different needs and power structures and that these differences should be identified and addressed in a manner that rectifies imbalance between the sexes

Gender equity strategies seek to achieve fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women and men, and recognize that different approaches may be required to produce equitable outcome

Gender mainstreaming is an important global strategy for achieving gender equality.

It is a strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in all political, economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality.” – United Nations Economic and Social Council, 1997