WORKING WITH GENDER AND DIVERSITY

Prague 21.3.2012

Malin Gustavsson, MA, B.Soc. Sc. Diversity Consultant

malin.gustavsson@ekvalita.fi

The bridge

between theory and practise

between working life and university

and its challenges

EKVALITA AB

• Lecture: What do we have to do due to the law?

• Moderating: What are the differences/similarities

between swedish and finnish gender equality politics?

• Workshop: How to we implement gender

mainstreaming in the higher managemant in a city?

• Material: How do we make parents think about this

issues due to their children and youngsters?

DISCUSS WITH THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU

Do you have a specific question about gender training?

What do you see as the biggest personal challenge for you in this field?

What do you see as the biggest challenge for the work in itself?

What knowledge do we want to give? Can we control the

knowledge?

Which are our methods?

What is the form?

GIVE A KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HOW TO

• SEE

• UNDERSTAND

• LIGHT AN URGE FOR CHANGE

• USE AND CREATE TOOLS FOR CHANGE

OUR WAYS OF WORKING

• Lecture, training and coaching

• Workshops

• Surveys, analyses, assessments

• Production of different texts and

material

CONCEPT

• What is gender equality?

• How can we understand sex and

gender (sukupuoli/kön)?

• What does it mean to work with

gender equality issues?

• The norm critical view

• What is the need of the

organisation/you in this issue?

EQUALITY

Equality is an on going process towards a society where there is no discrimination becuase of sex, age, etnical or national background, nationality, language, religion, belives, opinion, status of health, disability, sexual orientation or any other cause that is connected to a person. Everyone should have the same rights, obligations and possibilities in all areas of life. Power is equal divided between all people.

Gender Equality means to put the focus on sex and gender

WHERE IS THE ”SEX/GENDER” SITUATED?*

1. The sex/gender is situated in the body 2. The sex/gender is situated in the head3. ”We are what we do” (behaviour,

attributes) 4. Your own suggestion

*this just an example of an exercise when there is only one

word for sex and gender

DIFFERENT WAYS OF APPROACHING THE ”SEX”

Physical sexGenitals → intersexual x and y chromosomesLevels of testosterone and estrogen

Mental sex

Our experience of our sex/gender.The absence of experienced sex/gender, a stand between, both, or beyond the traditional gender role → transgender, genderqueer, transsexual, postgender, agender, bigender and so on.

Gender – the social and cultural sexIt describes the characteristics and abilities that our society connects to men and women as opposed to the physical sex.

That we perceive as male/female change over time and space.

When body and clothes "mismatch "→ transvestism

HETERONORMATIVITY

SKIRTS TROUSERS

♀ ♂

Equal possibilities, equal values?

NORMS

Norm/s

Written/spoken or unwritten/unspoken rules about what is "right" or "normal".

Norms are all concepts, ideas and unwritten rules that shape human beings.

Norms have with discrimination and power to do

→ Breaking the norms has consequences

HETERONORMATIVITY

Norms where gender and sexuality is in focus

Norms that exclude and value people differently

Unequlity and gender unequality are maintained and reproduced through heteronormativity. Heteronormativity limit the possibility to be who you want to be, where all are seen as equally valued.

DISCUSSION TOPICS

What can we do in our work in order not to re-produce heteronormativity?

AN NORM CRITICAL VIEW

To put the light on the norms

Questioning different norms that limit and sterotype people due to sex, age, etnic or national origin, nationality, language, religion, convincency, opinion, status of health, disability, sexuality or anything else connected to an individual.